Karnataka couple records 84 butterfly species in their garden

MANGALURU: For the last six years, an engineer-turned-businessman Gopal Krishna Baliga and his wife Radhika, have been documenting butterflies from their home garden in Mannagudda, in the heart of the city.
Early this month, Radhika spotted a relatively rare beauty that happened to be the first sighting of dark wanderer in the garden and the 84th butterfly species recorded in the 1,250 sq feet garden.

Gopal Krishna Baliga, 62, said, "Our journey into the world of butterflies began due to my passion for photography and meeting conservationists Ashoka Vardhana and Dr Krishna Mohan. However, the turning point was an interaction with Sammilan Shetty at his Butterfly Park in Belvai."
"Till about 2014, we had a garden with a lot of flowering plants, but at the same time, we were using pesticides. Now when I look back, I realise that the plants were not healthy then. The first big decision we took was to stop the use of pesticides in our garden. We soon noticed positive changes. In the meantime, during our travels, I learnt more about butterflies. I attended a workshop by Isaac Khemkar in Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and also visited the Ovalekar Wadi Butterfly Garden, in 2014,"he said.
On his return, his garden too got a new look with nectar and host plants that were sourced locally as well as from Sammilan Shetty.
"Out of the 84 butterflies that we have documented, the majority were photographed by my wife. Due to the green patch, we have a lot of birds visiting us and these days we rarely step out for bird watching. Species spotted are often discussed with experts and also posted on Facebook pages dedicated to these beauties. Butterflies are an environmental indicator and putting an end to the use of pesticides can do wonders to the environment," said Baliga.
Winged beauties recorded from the garden: Red Pierrot, Blue Tiger, Kanara Oakblue, Plain Tiger, Danaid Eggfly, Great Eggfly, Peacock Pansy, Common Mormon (mating), Lime Swallowtail, Plains Cupid, Psyche, Common Salier among others