BENGALURU: A butterfly walk was organised at the 21-acre Doddakalsandra Lake in Konanakunte in the early hours of Saturday to raise awareness about the winged beauties that are becoming extinct due to the destruction of their habitat and the absence of food plants. Both children and adults took part in the walk, locating and identifying different types of butterflies.
The walk was facilitated by Ulhas Anand, co-founder, EcoEdu. The group were able to spot about 25 species of butterflies, among them nine species like the Mottled Emigrant, Dark Grass, Yellow Pansy, Crimson Tip, White orange tip, Common 4 ring, Common Jay, Lemon Pansy, Common Crow were seen for the first time.
“Out of the 25 species, these 9 species stood out because these were new species we noticed on Saturday. Some of the butterflies were from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, South Asia and Australia,” said Raghvendra B Pachhapur of Action Aid, NGO.
Eleven-year-old Arya Atreya expressed how much he enjoyed the walk. “This was the first time I saw this butterfly. I liked the Crimson Tip butterfly the most. It was not very shy like the other butterflies, but it was funny when it started posing for pictures. The walk was very educational. Spending my weekend like this made my day.”
Seven-year-old Samanvi B K, said, “I thank Action Aid for hosting the butterfly walk. Daily, I watch a few butterflies near my house without knowing their names, but today I could get names of almost 20 kinds of butterflies. They were wonderfully explained by Ulhas Anand. It was a memorable experience.”
Anand, who has been bird and butterfly watching for the past 30 years, said the number of butterflies have reduced drastically. “I have seen a considerable decrease in the number of butterflies. Within the city it is very difficult to find them. The BBMP and Horticulture Department focus on landscaping lawns or bushes which don’t support wildlife. If the right plantation is done, it will attract butterflies and other wildlife,” he added.