Butterflies reclaim their lost space as Bhopal stays indoors

Bhopal: Bhopalis have a new visitor these days. Unlike birds, these winged beauties do not announce their visit, and if you are very very quiet you can spot them easily in your garden or backyard.With noise and pollution levels down, butterflies are finding their way back into people’s homes, sending hearts aflutter. "Vehicle movement, vehicular pollution, pesticides hamper the life cycle of butterflies, which is why they tend to disappear when the environment is not conducive for them. Resident species can even travel short distances to avoid adverse conditions. Now, in lockdown, with little movement, butterflies are finding it encouraging to come out," said Mohammed Khalique of Bhopal Birds."You can spot 10-12 species easily in your garden these days, if you are lucky, then you can spot 25. Ashoka trees are quite common in residential areas. Around these trees you can easily spot the Tailed Jay or the Common Jay. The other very common butterfly is the Grass Yellow. Wherever there is even a little grass, you can spot these butterflies flying close to the ground. If you have lemon trees in your garden then you can also spot the Lime Butterfly. Butterflies can also be spotted hovering around madar tree," said Dr Sangeeta Rajgir, bird and butterfly expert and president of Bhopal Birds.Butterflies are temperature sensitive, and come out only when the temperature is between 15 to 25 degree Celsius, says Aseem Shrivastava, an IFS officer who has written a book on butterflies of Central India. "In summer, good time to spot butterflies would be between 7 to 9am, specially near flowering plants as they are a nectar source. Butterflies also flock to moist places, damp patches and fruit to obtain moisture and nutrients."Sarang Sham Mhatre a resource person at Raisen Butterfly Park said, “There are around 100+ butterfly species in Bhopal region, which majorly belong to five families. Each family has their different characteristics. The Pieridae are those which have white and yellow wings. The next is Pappilionidae, which have long tail on wings. Third are Hesperidae, which have elongated wings, next is Licanidae, with blue colour on upper wings of male butterflies and last Nymphalidae which have brush like hair on their legs.”Many species of butterflies maintain territories. Some species will bask or perch on chosen perches — which is why some of them can be spotted near the same place for days. Experts say, if you are interested in butterfly watching, you can take out a list of 10 common species in your area and try to spot them in your garden. Another interesting thing about butterflies is that many of them are named according to what they look like, a Plain Tiger or Striped Tiger has stripes like a tiger and the same colour, similarly Danaid Eggfly is a black butterfly with egg-shaped spot on it — so when you spot a butterfly just type in what you see in a search engine and chances are you will be able to get a name.Other than flowering plants, you can place overripe fruits in a bowl to attract butterflies.