As amazing and unbelievable as it sounds, butterflies - the fragile beauties that adorn our gardens, migrate distances that are as huge as hundreds of kilometers. Some well known species of migratory butterflies include the Dark Blue Tiger, Double Branded Crow, Brown king crow, Common crow, Blue Tiger, Striped Tiger, Common Albatross, Painted Lady, and Common emigrant.
Out of these, Common crow, Double Branded Crow and Dark Blue Tiger butterflies travel from the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats sometime during may-june-july. Later, their progeny migrates back to the Western Ghats. The reason for this migration could be the rains - SW monsoon. During the months of May-June, the western ghats receive the first rainfall of the year. Then the rain gets oppressive and the butterflies migrate eastwards. Later between September and October, the next generation of these migrated butterflies return to the Western Ghats. So this time of the year (May-June) You may find these migratory butterflies right in your garden. Try and spot them !!! :)
From top to bottom: Double Branded crow, Common crow, Dark Blue tiger
Saw Common Leopards and Tigers in thousands in Anchetty last month and Bannerughatta coupla weeks back. But never knew a definite migratory pattern existed. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, they must have been locally migrating to someplace close by... probably in search of host plants...
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Whats the difference between the common crow and double banded crow?
ReplyDelete@Ravi: I just put up a new post that answers your question... :)
ReplyDelete