Rare butterfly sighted in Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram

A rare philomela form of the Common Wanderer butterfly, Pareronia hippia, has been documented for the first time in Poothurai of Villupuram district by a butterfly enthusiast. Till date, the butterfly species has been historically associated more often with northeastern India and adjoining regions.

Records from peninsular India are comparatively scarce, making the observation in Poothurai near Puducherry, a rare sighting.

The butterfly, was observed by Smita Rani Mishra, a resident of Puducherry at Matur Udyanam, a unit of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, recently. The individual was found resting and fluttering among vegetation on the campus during hot and humid summer.

“The observation was photographed in the field and the individual was later identified as the uncommon philomela form of the Common Wanderer. The butterfly displayed the distinctive features of the philomela form, including pale yellowish colouration at the base of the wings, translucent whitish areas, prominent dark venation and a faint yellow suffusion near the wing bases. These markings set it apart from the more commonly encountered forms of the Common Wanderer. The identification was confirmed by noted lepidopterist Isaac Kehimkar, former Director of the Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS),” Smita said.

According to a naturalist, “This sighting is significant because it provides a record of an uncommon form of Pareronia hippia from the Puducherry-Villupuram-Auroville-Cuddalore (PVAC) bioregion. The sighting at Maturudyanam expands the known occurrence of this rare form in southern India. It also highlights the ecological value of green spaces maintained by institutions such as Sri Aurobindo Ashram, which can provide refuge for butterflies and other pollinators.”

Systematic observations at Poothurai and the PVAC landscape could help establish whether the philomela form is only an occasional visitor or part of a little-recorded southern population.

The record also reinforces the need to conserve natural and semi-natural vegetation, especially in rapidly changing peri-urban landscapes across the PVAC bioregion that sustain a wide variety of butterflies and other pollinators, Smita said.