 |
| Mating Common Mormon Butterflies at Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India (Image: Indian Biodiversity Talks) |
Common Mormon now decorates the coveted title of Butterfly
of Mumbai - the financial capital of India. Mumbaikars have selected the most
charming common butterfly in their suburbs in a suspense filled competition
between a dozen winged beauties. In the race to win the title of the most
charming, common butterfly, Common Mormon overtook a couple of winged beauties
like Tailed Jay, Common Crow, and Common Emigrant.
Known as Papilio
polytes in scientific parlance, this Swallowtail butterfly grabbed the title
when biodiversity conservation research organisation Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) organised a public poll on different common butterfly species, as part
of their Breakfast with Butterflies programme, to create awareness among the city
folk about butterflies. According to sources, the voting was held at the Facebook
page of BNHS also.
During the programme, the 150 participants of the programme
voted for butterflies like Common Crow, Tailed Jay, Common Mormon and Common Emigrant.
69 voters elected Common Mormon as the most charming one. Tailed jay, the closest
rival in the race, managed to bag 35 votes.
Others beauties failed to make many fans among the voters
with Plain Tiger scoring 28 votes and Common Emigrant managing to get 17 votes.
Common Crow was the least voted species, with just 9 votes. According to
organisers at the BNHS, butterfly species were selected for voting based on
their popularity and wide distribution in Mumbai.
“Common Mormon is just
like any Mumbaikar”
According to Dr. V.Shubhalaxmi, Deputy Director, BNHS,
Common Mormon has a lot of similarity with an average Mumbaikar. “Common Mormon
resonates the spirit of Mumbai by being elegant and beautiful yet ‘street
smart’ to remain grounded. Like any Mumbaikar, Common Mormon fights the odds of
life by adjusting with its environment by adopting strategy of mimicry”, she
said.
She sketches out more striking similarities between the
newly elected Butterfly Mumbai and the Mumbai life. “As the young love their
food with a dash of curry leaf tadka and drops of lemon juice, so does the
Common Mormon’s caterpillar”, she said. Next time you see a Common Mormon, remember
they are our buddies and let them live and flourish with us, she reminds.
Watch mating Common Mormon butterflies. The female is mimicking Crimson Rose
The swallowtail butterfly belonging to the Papilionidae, is
widely distributed in India and other parts of Asia. The female Common Mormon butterflies
show an interesting example of mimicry in the insect world. Some female Common Mormon
butterflies mimic Common Rose while some other mimic Crimson Rose, both distasteful
to birds due to the poisonous food plants they eat during their larval stages. Common
Mormon lays its eggs in Curry leaf plant or lemon plant.
nice picture you have done here
ReplyDeleteGreat choice by Mumbaikars a simple yet elegant butterfly
ReplyDeletethat is nice :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful...
ReplyDelete