The presence of King Crow Butterfly was recorded for the first time in Uttarakhand by the research wing of the state forest department in October last year in the Bhujia Ghat area of the Nainital district.
For butterfly lovers, it is a new addition to the existing list of 450 butterflies of the state.
“It has earlier been recorded in Northeast where its subspecies – brown and blue have been recorded and also in south India where its brown-coloured subspecies have been recorded,” said junior research fellow Ambica Agnihotri of Research Wing Forest department of Uttarakhand.
Its last western most recording was in Katarnia Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttar Pradesh. With this latest discovery, Nainital has now become the western most boundary for this rare species. Bhujia Ghat, where it has been located lies at an altitude of 650m and is home to good quality sub-tropical forests hence this discovery is also an indicator of the good health of the local ecosystem and forest, said Dr Sanjiv Chaurvedi, Chief Conservator of Forest, Research wing of Uttarakhand Forest Department.
Ambica said: “The distribution of the butterfly has extended westwards and it’s an addition to the known existing data of butterfly fauna.”
This particular species has an uncommon trait that it mostly feeds on poisonous or alkali-rich plants like milkweed (Dhatura) and thus, plays an important role in the reproduction and propagation of such alkali-rich plants.