Discovery of the Banded Tit Butterfly: Implications for Biodiversity

Discovery of the Banded Tit Butterfly: Implications for Biodiversity

Question: A new butterfly species has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh. Discuss the implications of this recent discovery for the nation’s biodiversity.

- A tiny species of butterfly now known to science has been discovered in the Changeling district forests in Arunachal Pradesh

- The butterfly has been christened as Banded Tit or Hypolycaena Narada

- This announcement was made by State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests(Wildlife and Biodiversity) in Itanagar

- Discovery highlights the unique biodiversity of this state

- It also points the possibility that many species new to science remain to be discovered in remote mountain ranges and forests of the state and the NE region as a whole

- Systematic description and cataloguing of the diverse flora and fauna of this state is a must

About the Banded Tit

- The Banded Tit is located in low lying evergreen forests of Changlang

- Adult butterflies of this species live for around 2 weeks in March every year

- A large part of their lives are spent in dormant state in larval or pupal stages

- This butterfly species feeds primarily on bird droppings

- Though this butterfly species has been described and named, its biology remains a mystery

- Its larval host plants, breeding behaviour and precise habitat requirements are unknown

- The research scientist Dr.K.Kunte who is from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru discovered this butterfly species

- Banded Tit may have a single brood per year, with adults emerging in early March and persisting till late March

- The butterfly has been named after Narada, a mischievous sage in Indian mythology in keeping with the researcher’s allusion to a prank by a friend as playing a central role in the discovery of the butterfly

Facts and Stats

- A new butterfly species called the Bright Eyed Argus or Callerebia Dibangensis was discovered in AP some time back

- The Banded Tit butterfly was found in the evergreen forests of Namdapha National Park

- Banded Tit has distinctive combination of features such as shinning purple blue upper side forewing, dark diffused androconial patch, underside wings with narrow discal bands ending in black spots and coastal black spots at the close of the base

- A complete examination of Hypolycaenina in the British Museum of Natural History (now the Natural History Museum, London), and in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, revealed that this species was distinct and new to science