BENGALURU:
Doresanipalya Research Campus
near JP Nagar, which is home to 129 butterfly species, held a butterfly festival on Saturday. The festival marked the declaration of Southern Birdwing as the state butterfly in April.
Sanjay Mohan, additional principal chief conservator of forests, said the state butterfly needs protection and its habitat and host plants have to be safeguarded.
Southern Birdwing (Troides minos) is the largest butterfly in the country with a wingspan of 140-190mm. Mohan said, "As the forest campus is just 36.5 hectares, it is difficult to handle this butterfly. They need host plants like red hibiscus, balsam and creepers such as eeshwaraballi (Aristolochia indica) to survive. We need to increase our forest cover and have many such plants."
Schoolchildren attended the fest and were taken on a butterfly walk. Holding a larvae in his hands,
Lohith Kumar, a class 4 student from
Janak Vidyalaya
, was not scared, instead said, "I see these things in the garden at my house."
Start a Conversation
Post comment