Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2024 | 16(9): 25942–25944

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8679.16.9.25942-25944

#8679 | Received 09 August 2023 | Final received 03 August 2024 | Finally accepted 31 August 2024

 

 

Red Pierrot Talicada nyseus nyseus (Guérin-Meneville, 1843): an addition to the butterfly fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, India

 

 Roshan Upadhaya 1, Renu Gogoi 2 , Ruksha Limbu 3, Manab Jyoti Kalita 4 & Rezina Ahmed 5

 

1 Police Department of Basar, Leparada, Arunachal Pradesh 791101, India.

2 Department of Zoology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam 781001, India.

3 Department of Life Sciences, RIMT University, Mandi Gobindgarh, Punjab 147301, India.

4 Department of Zoology, Madhab Choudhury College, Barpeta, Assam 781301, India.

4 Department of Zoology, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam 781014, India.

5 Department of Zoology, Rabindranath Tagore University, Hojai, Assam 782435, India.

1 roshanupadhaya14@gmail.com, 2 renugogoi39@gmail.com (corresponding author), 3 ruku432121@gmail.com, 4 kalitamanabzoo@gmail.com, 5 drrezinaahmedcu@gmail.com

 

 

Editor: Jatishwor Singh Irungbam, Centrum ALGATECH, Třeboň, Česká Republika.           Date of publication: 26 September 2024 (online & print)

 

Citation:  Upadhaya, R., R. Gogoi, R. Limbu, M.J. Kalita & R. Ahmed (2024). Red Pierrot Talicada nyseus nyseus (Guérin-Meneville, 1843): an addition to the butterfly fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(9): 25942–25944. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8679.16.9.25942-25944

  

Copyright: © Upadhaya et al. 2024. 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.

 

Acknowledgements: The help and support revieved from local people during the study is acknowledged.

 

 

The Red Pierrot Talicada nyseus nyseus (Guérin-Meneville, 1843) is a butterfly belonging to the blue family Lycaenidae found in the Indian subcontinent. This butterfly is usually noticeable due to their striking patterns and colours. Both the wings are white, with black dots, and a huge section of the hindwings lower edge, which is orange (Bingham 1907). The genus Talicada is a monotypic Oriental genus, and the genus is represented by T. nyseus (Guérin-Meneville, 1843) which comprised of nine recognized subspecies, including T. n. nyseus in southern India (Kunte 2000), Sri Lanka (Seitz 1924), T. n. khasiana in Khasia Hills (Evans 1925), T. n. assamica in Assam (Larsen 1987), T. n. metana in northern Thailand (Pinratana 1981), T. n. annamitica in Indo-China (D’Abrera 1986), T. n burmana from Shan State of Myanmar to western Thailand (Evans 1925), T. n. macbethi in eastern Thailand (Riley 1932), T. n. delhiensis in northern India (Kumar et al. 2009), and T. n. lami from Hainan Island, China (Philip & Ding 2017). Singh (2005) indicated that due to climate change, the Red Pierrot butterfly has been expanding into the foothills of the Himalaya. As a result, it can now be found from southern India (Kunte 2000) and Kerala (Skaria et al. 1997) to Dehradun (Singh 2005), Delhi (Smetacek 2009), Kumaon Himalaya (Smetacek 2011), Himachal Pradesh (Mahendroo & Smetacek 2011), Chhattisgarh (Singh et al. 2023), and Sikkim (Sharma et al. 2023).

The species is documented to utilize Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), K. calycinum (Davidson et al. 1896; Bell 1918; Robinson et al. 2010), K. laciniata (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000), Bryophyllum delagoense (Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), and B. pinnatum (Crassulaceae) (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000) as its common host plants. A thorough examination of the literature did not yield any records of this species in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Nevertheless, our present survey results revealed the presence of this butterfly species in Arunachal Pradesh, India. A single individual of this species was observed on 12 February 2023, near the Himalayan University, Itanagar (27.04314N, 93.39154E), at an elevation of 201 m, and an additional individual was sighted during the monsoon season on 28 July 2023 in Basar, Leparada District (27.98352N, 94.68769E), at an elevation of 603 m (Figure 1). However, the observations of both species took place in distinct habitats: one near Himalayan University, characterized by an abundance of herbaceous flora, observed nectaring on Oxalis corniculata flowers (Image 1), while the other encountered nectaring on Mentha sp. within a kitchen garden in Basar, Leparada (Image 2). Both species were photographed using a Nikon D5600 equipped with a 40 mm kit lens. Identification of the species was confirmed with the help of literature provided by Evans (1925), Wynter-Blyth (1957), and Kehimkar (2016).

Based on earlier observation, this species is observed at elevations up to 2,000 m on the outskirts of woodlands, showing a preference for semi-arid plains, evergreen, & semi evergreen forests, hill stations, and domestic garden (Kunte 2000; Smetacek 2011). Consequently, its presence in Arunachal Pradesh aligns with these habitat preferences. Additionally, the presence of host plants Kalanchoe and Bryophyllum contributes to the species habitat suitability within the surrounding environment.

The current documentation showcases the first photographic evidence of T. nyseus nyseus from Arunachal Pradesh, presenting a new addition to the state butterfly fauna. It is crucial to conduct thorough scientific investigations to obtain further insights into this species, including its distinct host plant preferences, life cycle patterns throughout all seasons and its correlation with floral composition within its habitat, particularly during nectaring activities. As a result, such a report will help to update the distribution of the species in the state.

 

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