Siruvani hills, Tamil Nadu Named Butterfly Super-Hotspot

Recently, Siruvani hills in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu have been identified as a butterfly super-hotspot. This has come after a 6-year study that was conducted by Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS).

Key Points

• The region has been designated as a super-hotspot of butterflies due to the large number of butterfly species found in the region.
• TNBS members have documented that 325 butterfly species have been found in Tamil Nadu between March 2015 and December 2020.
• Out of these species, 240 species found from Siruvani hills. This accounts for 74% of the total species found during the period.
• Nature and Butterfly Society (TNBS) has a methodology to define a place as a hotspot. According to that, a place is designated as a hotspot if 25% of the State checklist species are found in a single area.
• TNBS submitted its report to the District Forest Officer D. Venkatesh and recommended to declare Siruvani hills as a butterfly hotspot.
• The 240 butterfly species found in Siruvani are from six families of butterflies— Brush-footed Butterflies (72), Whites and Yellows (28), Blues (69), Swallowtails (17), Skippers (53), and Metalmarks (1).

Some noted butterfly species found in the region are Malabar Rose, Malabar Banded Peacock, and Nilgiri Grass Yellow. According to the report, some rare butterflies from the Blues family were also spotted in the region like- Large 4-lineblue, Abnormal Silverline, Dark Ceylon 6-lineblue, Shiva Sunbeam, etc.