Butterfly pioneer Wynter Blyth MA mentions a butterfly in his e book Butterflies of the Indian Region that got here out in 1957. He talks of it as a uncommon one, noticed in the Mettupalayam Ghats and Sri Lanka, in thick jungles typically at an elevation between 1000 and 3000 ft. Later, Larsen Torben, who studied butterflies significantly in Asia and Africa, attracts a reference to this butterfly in his analysis paper printed in 1987. He mentions that it was recorded from Nadugani space in Gudalur as a part of a Japanese butterfly assortment.
“They are talking about the Malabar Flash or the Rapala Lankana, a butterfly belonging to the Blues family and considered very rare. It’s a dream species of any butterfly enthusiast,” says Vinod Sriramulu, founding member of Wynter Blyth Association (WBA) in the Nilgiris that creates consciousness and works in direction of conservation of butterflies in the area. “It finds a mention only in the works of these two people so far. We have never documented this species in the last 10 years,” he says including that he sighted it by probability alongside the Kundah slopes of the Nilgiris, at an elevation of 1500 ft.
“This make it the first ever photographic record of this species in the Nilgiris as of Feb, 2025,” he says, including that it has surfaced after a very long time, a lot to the thrill of butterfly fans.
This sighting has re-established the presence of this uncommon butterfly in the Nilgiris, a reminder of the thriving bio-diversity of the area. “I was photographing puddling butterflies along the road leading to Kundah. All of a sudden, I noticed a bright one fly by and rest on a leaf for a few seconds, basking in the sun. It flew away shortly thereafter. I waited for a few more hours, and also revisited the forests hoping to catch another glimpse. But that never happened,” says Vinod as he attracts consideration to the truth that this can be simply the second photographic report of the Malabar Flash in Tamil Nadu.
Such contemporary sightings of recent species at all times leaves them thrilled, he says. “Until recently, the number of butterfly species and the density of sightings were good. We have documented significant ones like the Spotted Royal, Branded Royal and now, the Malabar Flash, out of the blue. We never anticipated it here as the records date back to the 1940s and 1980s. It’s a reminder that we need to keenly observe host plants, terrain, vegetation etc. A scientific approach will help us unearth more rare butterflies of the Western Ghats that are undocumented so far.”
Talking of phenomenal work performed by citizen science boards pan-India in documenting biodiversity, he says web sites like Butterflies of India and social media teams like Butterflies of Nilgiris Biosphere preserve the thrill going. “We work towards bridging the gap between the scientific community and common people on butterflies and conservation. We documented for the first time the life cycle of Nilgiri Tit, a highlight species of The Nilgiris. WBA members have published the paper in an American Entomology Journal. We also recorded orchid tit butterfly, a rare one. It feeds on orchid leaves. The beautiful Common Banded Peacock is common in the hills but very rare in Kerala and Karnataka,” he says highlighting two important issues that want consideration in butterfly conservation. “Fragmentation of habitat because of intense agriculture that has been continuing for decades and unmindful cutting of hedge plants along the roads and forest periphery,” he says, including, “What seems like a weed might be a nectaring plant of a butterfly.”
Published – April 26, 2025 02:53 pm IST
