Nagpur: A previously not reported genus of a butterfly — Pantoporia, commonly called Lascar— was recently spotted by a team of nature enthusiasts at Gorewada Biopark.
The butterfly was sighted last week by young naturalists Shamali Khalatkar, Sheetal Choudhary, Shubham Chhapekar, and Aadesh Shendge at the Gorewada nature trail.
“It took time to cross-check records, hence we declared it late. The butterfly appears black with dark yellow or orange markings on the upper side. Its colour pattern is similar to that of a tiger and Nagpur being the Tiger capital of the country, its aesthetic significance cannot be denied. Publications on butterfly diversity in and around Nagpur city and diversity of Gorewada do not make a mention of this butterfly,” claimed Chhapekar.
“The butterfly has been earlier reported from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli regions along with reports from the Western Ghats and North-East. This is the first report of the Pantoporia butterfly from Nagpur,” confirmed Raju Kasambe, assistant director, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Mumbai.
Further work on species identification is underway. Pandurang Pakhale, range forest officer (RFO), Gorewada project, said, “Gorewada reserve forest is a biodiversity-rich area and is home to around 90 butterfly species and more than 200 species of birds and animals, including leopard, blue bull and sambhar.”
Earlier, the same team had recorded the common banded peacock butterfly, reported in the city after many years. RFO Kalpana Chinchkhede stated that the first sighting or rediscovery of butterflies in Nagpur is an indication healthy habitat and ecology which needs to be conserved. This may be due to conservation measures undertaken by the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM).