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Post by wollastoni on Oct 3, 2016 9:33:35 GMT
As insect collecting is banned in India, we know less and less about butterfly populations there (very few entomological expeditions) in a country severely touched by human demography explosion and deforestation.
2 of my friends just turned back from a trip in Lama Camp, Eaglenest, Arunachal Pradesh, N.E India and they told me Bhutanitis lidderdalii was the most common butterfly there and that it flies also under foggy/misty weather.
They did not see the more elusive Bhutanitis ludlowi.
Some pictures from Ian :
The weather conditions : 
It seems they arrived late in the season for Bhutanitis lidderdalii as specimens seem all old.
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Post by Paul K on Oct 3, 2016 11:51:30 GMT
Ah, the entomological expedition without the nets, knights without swords, what a sad picture, looks more like a bunch of tourists walking around with no particular reason.
Beautiful Bhutanitis though.
Paul
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 3, 2016 11:58:17 GMT
Haha, nice image. Better than nothing though. |
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Post by Adam Cotton on Oct 3, 2016 16:37:21 GMT
Bhutanitis ludlowi flies in early-mid August, slightly before B. lidderdalii, although their flight period does seem to overlap as the latter starts to emerge in mid August. I am sure that ludlowi will have finished flying long before your friends arrived if the lidderdalii were already worn.
They will fly from dawn until dusk, both in fog and drizzle but also during sunshine; my friend has seen lidderdalii flying even in the evening before dusk. Many Troidini are well known for avoiding sunshine, flying in the early morning and late afternoon but they also will fly in the middle of the day if it is misty or drizzly. It seems that Bhutanitis (not Troidini but Zerynthiini of course, but also using Aristolochia species as foodplants) are less restricted in their weather flight preferences.
I am not at all surprised that Olivier's friends saw many B. lidderdalii, as it really is a common species in its habitat at the right time of year. That is actually one reason why I believe that ssp. ocellatomaculata really must be extinct on Doi Chiang Dao. In the 30 plus years since it disappeared in 1983 (due to a fire caused by the strong El Nino that year) if some had survived, by now it should have increased in numbers at least to a level where some would be seen by people on the mountain. There have been no definite sightings at all since the flight of August-September 1982.
By the way, B. lidderdalii was recorded as late as November some years ago by Stefan Naumann on Mt. Victoria, W. Burma (pers. comm.).
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Oct 4, 2016 10:26:54 GMT
Super images. Thank you for sharing those.
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 6, 2016 7:27:25 GMT
Do you know when Ian Lawson visited the area and the date(s) the pictures were taken? I suppose about mid September?
They were there around the 20th September.
Some other pictures from the same trip by Hiro Takenouchi
They seem to love this flower.
Anyone knows which plant it is ?
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 6, 2016 12:24:44 GMT
Perfect match, thank you Jan !
Looks nicer than our common B. davidii.
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