A rare butterfly with colourful wings – Abberant Oakblue – has been spotted in Gothiyar forests by a Chennai-based wildlife photographer.
When he visited Gothaiyar forests beyond Pechipparai dam, which is surrounded by Agasthiyamalai and Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, on October 27, Sherjin Joel was looking for frogs and dragonflies. Gothaiyar forests, a biodiversity hotspot, is home for rare and endemic species of amphibians, reptiles and butterflies. In 2015, a part of Gothaiyar forests was opened to nature lovers by the KMTR.
While occasionally photographing butterflies, Mr. Joel saw a quick flying Abberant Oakblue. As he captured the image of this beautiful creature, he did not realise that the butterfly had been recorded after 22 years.
“Abberant Oakblues have lustrous bluish upper wings, which they seldom allow to be photographed as they are swift and sit with wings closed. Disappointed at not being able to capture the upper wings, I continued my walk looking for more frogs. Little did I know that what I had captured is one of the rarest of Oakblues and this is possibly a confirmed record for Tamil Nadu after 22 years. It was last sighted by Gaonkar. The previous few records were by A.J. Sharman on the Palani hills in 1960 and Wynter Blyth in 1943 in the Nilgiris,” claimed Mr. Joel.
He then shared some of the pictures with friends. V. Sharan, a butterfly enthusiast, was quick to realise the importance of the record and got in touch with Kailesh Sadasivan, an expert from Travancore Natural History Society, to collect the historical records of Abberant Oakblue sightings in Tamil Nadu.
Abberant Oakblue species is more common in northeast India and Nepal and there have been multiple records in Kerala and a few in Karnataka. Sighting of this species in the southern end of the Western Ghats gives more insight into the region’s rich biodiversity.
“Each butterfly species prefers unique larval host and food plant. Hence, a healthy diversity of butterflies is an indicator of the healthy diversity of flora and overall healthiness of the forest ecosystem,” says Mr. Joel.
