Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wormtrails…Butterfly Watching with Parag Rangnekar.



Butterfly watching with Parag Rangnekar began at 8:00 a.m. sharp from Earthworm Eco store with the participation of 30 butterfly enthusiasts.
In the two hour walk to Pilerne Lake, Parag led us through various aspects of butterfly watching: shared field skills for field identification of butterflies; their preference for certain garden and forest plants as host and food plants and their various life cycle stages. Participants were able to observe varied behavior of butterflies like basking, mimicry and feeding of nectar on food plants. A total of 22 species were sighted by during the walk that culminated at Earthworm Eco store.
In his power point presentation, Parag ran through some unique forest species of butterflies and explained basics of butterfly biology and their behavior sharing the butterfly diversity of Goa with the help of excellent photographs. He stressed upon the fact that in and around places like Green Valley where natural forests are turning into housing areas, the need to plant butterfly attracting plants in one’s garden and neighborhood is vital for their conservation.. The session ended with many curious questions of enthused participants.
All in all, the first in the series of ‘Wormtrails’ received a fantastic response. Please look forward to such monthly thematic interactions that aim to help us understand nature and its myriad wonders in our immediate neighborhoods.
We have to say a huge thank you to all our participants who made this event bigger and more exciting that we even imagined it would be.
Checklist of Butterflies sighted: -
1. Southern Birdwing
2. Common Mormon (male and female)
3. Great Eggfly
4. Crimson Rose
5. Common Grass yellow.
6. Small Grass yellow.
7. Sailor
8. Common crow
9. Gull.
10. Angled Castor
11. Skipper (unidentified)
12. Wanderer
13. Dark Grass blue.
14. Common Five ring.
15. Bush hopper
16. Common Bush brown
17. Commander
18. Yam Fly
19. Plain Tiger.
20. Angled Pierrot
21. Common Pierrot.
22. Red Pierrot.

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