The Rare Butterfly And Rajasthan: A Tale Of India’s 1328th Species Of The Brightly Colored Fly!

“Butterfly, not flutterby! An almost instant indication of freedom; the freedom of flying free, being carefree. Always flying, seldom resting, easy-going, even elusive. So hard to catch. The one that knows nothing about shackles. The one to whom the only restriction is the understanding of the word itself. The one that exhibits romanticism in being in a garden in an age where duplexes or skyscrapers are a reality. The light-weighted one; that, whilst beautifying a world caught in biases by showing real color, hardly carries a weight. A sign of carrying no ego?“

You can go on an unstoppable-mode appreciating arguably the most beautiful fly there is in our lives and still not get bored. Right? There’s much to talk about a species that is as carefree as it is beautiful. And where it comes to rare butterfly species then things get even more exciting- don’t they?

In an age where the term bird-watching could well mean hanging out on websites you wouldn’t wish to browse in the company of your parents, there’s still this real, distinct charm in checking out the magnanimity of a butterfly’s beauty.

For instance, rare butterfly species that exist in India. Ever thought about them? What could be more interesting to the nature lover than noting that recently the 1328th butterfly species was discovered in India?

On that note, it also helps to understand that the recent discovery did happen to be one concerning a rare butterfly species in the country. The news brought about with much passion by the Wildlife Institute of India.

The recent discovery, you ought to know, also brings forth some relief since the numbers pointing to the period five years back in the day weren’t the most promising one.

That’s because in 2015, the number concerning butterfly species in India came down to 1,318 but in the period thereafter, 10 more have been added.

So let’s move to the most critical point of this recent discovery. What about the rare butterfly species is interesting to know and is making news?

A report published in Hindustan Times, covered the needful, an excerpt from which reads as follows:

Spialia Zebra, the butterfly species that is normally found in Pakistan, was photographed at Sangwara in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur district on November 8, 2014. Mukesh Panwar, a government school teacher with interest in ecology, saw several of these between 1.20pm and 1.57pm. He sent one specimen to Bhimtal for identification and research.

The Bhimtal institute took six years to declare it the 1,328th species. The butterfly species has also found place in a paper in BIONOTES, the journal edited by Dr RK Varshney, a former Zoological Survey of India scientist, and published by Entomological Society of India, New Delhi, and Butterfly Research Centre, in its July-September 2020 issue.

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Having said the above, it’s also worthwhile to know what one of India’s most venerable and widely-recognized experts on butterflies, Mr. Peter Smetacek had to say on the development:

“The species was first seen in [what is now] Pakistan in 1888. It has been seen for the first time in India,” said the director of the Bhimtal Butterfly Research Centre.