Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2021 | 13(8): 19168–19170
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6425.13.8.19168-19170
#6425 | Received 17 July 2020 | Final
received 12 May 2021 | Finally accepted 27 June 2021
Rediscovery of Watson’s Demon Stimula swinhoei swinhoei (Elwes &
Edwards, 1897) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) in Meghalaya, India after 60 years
Suman Bhowmik 1 &
Atanu Bora 2
1 Lepidoptera Conservation and
Research Division, Wild Tripura Foundation, Agartala, Tripura, 799007, India.
2 Department of Zoology, Moran
College, Moranhat, Assam, 785670, India.
1sumanbhowmikwildlife@gmail.com,
2atanubora2019@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Editor: Monsoon Gogoi,
Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. Date
of publication: 26 July 2021 (online & print)
Citation: Bhowmik, S. & A. Bora (2021). Rediscovery of
Watson’s Demon Stimula swinhoei swinhoei (Elwes & Edwards, 1897) (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) in
Meghalaya, India after 60 years. Journal of Threatened Taxa 13(8): 19168–19170. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6425.13.8.19168-19170
Copyright: © Bhowmik & Bora 2021. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License. JoTT
allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any
medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of
publication.
Funding: None.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
The monotypic genus Stimula is represented by a single species Watson’s
Demon Stimula swinhoei
(Varshney & Smetacek 2015). Stimula swinhoei was
first introduced as Watsonia swinhoei by Elwes &
Edwards in 1897 through the type specimens of Col. Swinhoei.
Later, this species was treated as Stimula swinhoei (Evans 1932, 1949). Altogether two subspecies
occur: Stimula swinhoei
swinhoei – Khasi Hills, Sikkim, Assam, Sadon, northern Myanmar, and North Shan State and Stimula swinhoei disca – Myanmar, northern Thailand, Laos, and Yunnan.
The Indian subspecies was last recorded by Cantlie from Khasi Hills, Meghalaya
in 1956 (Cantlie 1956). Since then, there is no record of the species in
Meghalaya (Radhakrishnan et al. 1989; Alfred 1999; Hatter et al. 2004; Kunte et al. 2012; Sondhi et al.
2013). The subspecies swinhoei is, however,
recently recorded from Panbari Reserve Forest, Assam
(Gogoi 2013). This observation discusses the
rediscovery of the Indian subspecies after a gap of 60 years for Meghalaya
along with small note on its identification and current habitat of the
butterfly in the state (Image 1).
The present rediscovery is based
on an opportunistic survey in Khasi hills as a part of the butterfly inventory
and monitoring programme of northeastern India. On 20
February 2016 at about 1245 h, one of the authors, Atanu
Bora photographed a skipper butterfly feeding on bird droppings adjacent to a
hill stream in Riwai village (25.196N & 91.900E;
at approximately 430m), Meghalaya. The butterfly exactly matched the original
description of the underside of Stimula swinhoei in the published literature (Elwes & Edwards 1897; Evans 1949).
Stimula swinhoei is identical to Ancistroides nigrita but
differs in the following characters (Elwes &
Edwards 1897; Evans 1932, 1949):
1. Stimula
swinhoei: The marginal third of only
forewing paler. Additionally, large pale area on the dorsum of upperside forewing (hidden in the documented photographs).
Underside hindwing uniformly dark brown (Image 3).
2. Ancistroides
nigrita: The marginal third of both wings paler.
Underside forewing dorsum not pale brown unlike Stimula
swinhoei (Image 3).
Stimula swinhoei was last recorded by Cantlie
from Khasi Hills of Meghalaya in 1956. However, none of the authors has
recorded this species in Meghalaya afterwards. This rediscovery indicates that
a population of the butterfly still exists in some restrictive habitats of
Khasi hills. Currently, no information is available on ecology of the species
in India. Our observation suggests that Stimula
swinhoei can be found perching on the hill
streams inside forest (Image 4). During daytime, the species can be found
puddling on rocks, wet patches and bird droppings nearby hill streams or
waterfalls. Additional records in future surveys will help to map the
distribution of this species in the Indian subcontinent. The species might have
been overlooked in the past historic works because of its close similarity with
Ancistroides nigrita.
We strongly hope that our observation will help Lepidopterists and butterfly
enthusiast across the country in identification of the species and the habitat
information can be used for proper monitoring of this butterfly in future.
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