Butterfly rarely seen in Delhi spotted

The butterfly was sighted at Gurugram’s Aravalli Biodiversity Park as part of this year’s Big Butterfly Count 2023

The common cerulean butterfly (Jamides celeno) has been spotted in Delhi-NCR for the possibly the first time, experts said on Monday. The butterfly was sighted at Gurugram’s Aravalli Biodiversity Park as part of this year’s month-long Big Butterfly Count 2023 – held in September and is likely to have migrated to the capital from the Himalayas, where it is commonly sighted anywhere between Uttarakhand and northeast India. A total of 71 different species have been recorded in this year’s count, experts said, with around 40 locations covered across NCR.

The common cerulean (Jamides celeno) was spotted in the National Capital Territory (NCR) during a month-long survey held in September. (Rajesh Chaudhary)

Prof Rajesh Chaudhary, associate professor, department of biomedical science at Delhi University’s Acharya Narendra Dev College – who sighted the butterfly, said he made the sighting on September 23 at the biodiversity park.

“The butterfly was observed for 5-7 minutes and photographed with a digital camera. It fluttered for a few minutes close to its larval host plant - Abrus precatorius, after which it settled on a nearby plant, before fluttering away,” Chaudhary said, stating there is no published or confirmed record before this of the butterfly being spotted in NCR. “The butterfly keeps itself low among bushes and prefers partly shady habitats. It is mainly found in peninsular India and in the Himalayas, with this particular butterfly likely to have come down from around Uttarakhand,” he added, stating a second sighting of the butterfly was also made after the count by him – this time at his college campus.

“It will now be interesting to see if this is a one-off thing and the butterfly has migrated due to this year’s monsoon pattern, or that there is a chance it is expanding its range to this part of northwest India too,” he added.

This year’s count of 71 species is one higher than last year, when 70 species were recorded across Delhi-NCR. In 2021, 75 different species were recorded. Since 2021, the Big Butterfly Count is held across NCR for the entire duration of September. Before that, the count was held on a single day in September. Despite recording a total of 71 butterfly species, concerns were raised due to a significant decline in butterfly populations observed during the programme.

Surya Prakash, a zoologist studying butterflies in the region for more than three decades, confirmed this to be the first sighting of the common cerulean, stating an erratic monsoon may have played a role in this year’s overall density being lower during the month-long count of butterflies. “We have not only seen less rain towards the end of the monsoon season, but the average temperature during September was around 1.5 degrees above normal and butterflies are sensitive creatures that thrive in a very specific temperature range of 27 to 30 degrees Celsius. We also observed a lot of insecticides being used in places like Dhanauri, which can kill the butterfly in the larva stage itself,” he said.

Sohail Madan, an ecologist and educator echoed similar views. “While the species count was high, the number of butterflies seen in terms of density, was lower than last year. General factors contributing to this decline may include the unusually dry months of August and September this monsoon season, along with the ongoing challenges of increased urbanization in the region.” he said.

Around 40 locations were covered in this year’s count. This included forest areas including the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Sanjay Van, Aravalli Biodiversity Park (Gurugram), Bhondsi, IGNOU, Najafgarh, Yamuna Biodiversity Park, and Yamuna Khadar, among others. Additionally, urban gardens in Dwarka, Pritampura, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Lajpat Nagar, and Saket were included in the count too. The other species recorded included the common red flash, striped albatross, the tawny coster, dark cerulean and common pierrot.