KADAPA: Nature is the inspiration for Purushotham Venkataramana, who has been conducting research on butterfly species for the past three decades with the slogan ‘Save Nature and Save Butterfly’. Venkataramana (54), an Associate Professor in the Zoology Department of Yogi Vemana University (YVU), is gearing up to publish a book titled ‘Three Decades on Butterfly’ based on his research in Entomology.
He completed his MSc from Sri Venkateswara University in 1993 and did his PhD on ‘Environmental Science, Study of Insect’ from Andhra University in 1994-1998. Later, he joined as a research associate in the Entomology Department of Andhra University. He bagged the Young Scientist Award, besides getting a few research projects. Two of the projects belonged to the Department of Science and Technology (DST). He also got the research projects of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and University Grants Commission (UGC).
He set up a butterfly park on the premises of Andhra University in 2006. Venkataramana has identified 152 butterfly species in the Eastern Ghats and studied life cycles of 52 species. He joined YVU in 2009 and set up a butterfly park and an insect museum. In all, 27 butterfly species identified in Kadapa region are kept in his research laboratory in YVU. He had come up with a captive breeding mechanism for the conservation of butterfly species. Several butterfly species bred in his research lab are also being released into the wild every year. Students from various schools and colleges visit his research lab to know more about butterflies.
Venkataramana’s other achievements included four research scholar awards and publication of several research papers in reputed national and international journals. He received the Conserver Award of Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board in 2017 to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity. According to Venkataramana, July to December is the best season for butterflies. Yellows, whites and pansies are the three major butterfly species. “There is a need for preserving the butterfly species as the ‘Flying Jewels’ play an important role in agriculture production,” he asserted.