ITANAGAR, Jun 29: Much to the elation of the lovers of winged-insects from the order Lepidoptera from across the country and in particular the hilly State, two more butterfly species have been inserted into India’s long list of assortment courtesy the Team SEED (Society for Education and Environmental Development) of Arunachal Pradesh, which upon its findings has sought more support from the GoAP for the sake of augmenting scientific researches as well as eco-tourism in the State.
The two new butterfly species found in the State are Striped Hairstreak (Yamamotozephyrus kwangtugenesis) and Elusive Prince (Rohana Tokiniana), taking the total number to about 1327 species in the country.
In a release, the Society said: “Amidst pandemic, we have some good news for the Lepidoptera Society of India. Team SEED (Society for Education and Environmental Development) of Arunachal Pradesh has added two butterfly species for India, which has been published in the April-June edition of Bionotes journal. The butterflies
The first species was recorded from Vijoynagar circle and the second one from Miao circle under Changlang district of the State.
The Org said: “We are happy to share that within a few months, two new butterflies records for India which is quite remarkable, but not unusual for a state as unsurveyed as Arunachal Pradesh. Of the total of around 1325 species known from India, (1318 species in 2015 and around 1325 now) this takes the total to around 1327 species for India.”
Such finding from state indicates the rich biodiversity of the state and therefore, the state govt need to focus on helping volunteers/citizen scientists like the team SEED by providing support required, it said adding this will attract the people from all over India and hence will help in boosting eco-tourism, apart for regular scientific researches.
It is pertinent to mention here that SEED has been organizing Namdapha Butterfly Meet since 2018 and has attracted participants from all over the country and abroad in its last three editions.
Stating that through such butterfly meets in the State, the SEED said that now youths are taking interest and hoped that many more will join us in conservation works in future.
Further, it sought support and proper attention from the GoAP for exploring more of the biodiversity in the State.
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