On the 5th of September, more than 25 organizations related to the field of biodiversity conservation in India, had ventured into hosting a one of its kind national event related to butterflies. Big Butterfly Month: India 2020, included various activities like online workshops on butterflies, quizzes, webinars, photography and videography contests and butterfly count; the event concluded on the 20th of September. Pertaining to it, India’s 1328th butterfly species has been discovered in Rajasthan by butterfly expert and teacher Mukesh Panwar.
Spealia Zebra found back in 2014; confirmed now after 6 years
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A resident of Sagwara in Dungarpur district, Mukesh discovered this species named Spealia Zebra. He is a member of the Vagad Nature Club and has been researching butterflies for the last 15 years. Panwar reportedly saw the Spealia Zebra at Dhanraj Farm House in Sagwara, on November 8, 2014. He clicked a photo and sent it to the Butterfly Research Institute in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, for identification.
After a nearly six-year-long research process, institute Director Peter Smetachouk, announced that it is India’s 1328th butterfly. Smetachouk mentioned that this butterfly, which flies at a high speed, has a width of 2.5 centimeters. This species is normally found in Pakistan. As of today, Panwar has seen and identified around 111 species of butterflies.
The Big Butterfly Month is a celebration of butterflies aimed at conducting a nationwide citizen science survey to help assess the health of our environment. Butterflies are facing a major threat, like all the other fauna around us; butterflies are alarmingly declining in numbers. They are also key biodiversity indicators for scientists as butterflies are known to be sensitive to changes in their immediate environment. This is why the BBM project was undertaken, to track the number of butterflies around as it is crucial in the fight to conserve the ecosystem.
