Hi Arjan,
Its known distribution is NE India, Bengal, MP, S India and Myanmar,
so that is not a surprise. Colin Smith does not have it in his
checklist for Nepal, so Dehradun is probably its western most record,
to the extent of my information.
Cheers
.
Sanjay Sondhi
+91 9412052189
Dehradun
Visit www.titlitrust.com to view a Photo Gallery of Indian wildlife
On 10-Nov-10, at 7:29 PM, Arjan Basu Roy wrote:
Dear Sanjay
Me and rudra have this same form from west bengal in 2009.
regards
Arjan
On Wed, Nov 10, 2010 at 5:13 AM, Sanjay sondhi <[email protected]
> wrote:
Hello Folks,
Spotted an interesting butterfly in Dehradun last week. Common
Wanderer female Pareronia valeria philomela. This butterfly's
distribution is supposed to be NE India, S India, Madhya Pradesh and
Bengal, so seeing it in Uttarakhand is interesting. This butterfly
is the mimic of the Yellow Glassy Tiger Parantica aspasia. This
species is not found in india, and its distribution is east of
Myanmar. Hence, the question that arises-how does a butterfly mimic
another species which has no current presence/distribution in this
country. Wynter-Blyth proposes an interesting theory-that Parantica
aspasia could have been found in India at some time in the past, but
climatic or other changes lead to disappearance of it from India,
leaving behind it mimic-the form philomela!
WB also debunks a theory that one of the wagtail species could act
as a carrier of the eggs of this butterfly from Myanmar. Another
possible theory is that the P. valeria philomela migrates. The truth
is-we don't really know!
Anyone able to shed more light on this?
<Dehradun Nov 10 Common Wanderer _12.JPG>
Sanjay Sondhi
+91 9412052189
Dehradun
Visit www.titlitrust.com to view a Photo Gallery of Indian wildlife
--
Arjan Basu Roy
6/7 Bijoygarh, Kolkata - 700 032
West Bengal, India
Be natures' mate!
--
Enjoy
