isaac, that's a Crenulate Brownie (Allotinus drumila). this used to be called the Crenulate Darkie (as given in Evans and other books) but i have changed the name to "Brownie" to avoid the racist connotations of "Darkie". your reference to the "Great Darkie" is erroneous on two accounts; the foremost being that that name refers to Evan's Allotinus multistrigatus, which is a junior synonym of A. drumila; and that your butterfly is not multistrigatus even by Evans's standard. the misidentification not withstanding, it is true that this species (i.e., A. drumila) is listed under Schedule I of india's Wildlife (Protection) Act. i photographed this in mizoram last april, so we have two indian records of this rare species within a single year!
At 11:09 PM +0530 12/13/08, Isaac Kehimkar wrote: >Dear Friends, > >Got this rare butterfly in Sikkim's Butterfly Park [under >construction] at Rangrang. Protected under the Wildlife Protection >Act [1972] on Scheule 1, this dainty butterfly enjoys the same >status as the Tiger or Elephant.. > >Usha Lachungpa was there when we almost overlooked this butterfly >perched motionless, despite so many BNHS Members flocking to see >this rare find. >Cheers! >Isaac -- Dr. Krushnamegh Kunte Post-doctoral Research Fellow (Kronforst Lab) FAS Center for Systems Biology Harvard University 52 Oxford St Northwest Lab Room 458.40-3 Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Ph: (617) 496-0078 Cell: (512) 577-1370 Fax: (617) 495-2196 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Academic Website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/AcademicsHome.htm General Website: http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~kunte/index.htm --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Enjoy -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
