New species found in Sikkim’s Dzongu, the ‘land of butterflies’
The HinduWhen Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha, from Dzongu in north Sikkim, started watching butterflies and taking pictures of them, he was not taken very seriously by the people around him. ‘Chocolate-bordered Flitter’ The new species of butterfly, now named the Chocolate-bordered Flitter, also carries the scientific name Zographetus dzonguensis, after Dzongu in north Sikkim, the place where it was discovered. Mr. Wangchuk Lepcha, an author of the paper, recalls that on May 5, 2016 as he was on the way to Namprickdang, he was struck by the number of different species of butterflies he observed and tried counting them — on that evening itself, he had counted 50 different species of butterfly in that region. Mr. Wangchuk Lepcha mentions a place of historical interest near Dzongu called Blykovoo, which means “the land of butterflies”. Attesting to the rich butterfly population in Dzongu, Dr. Kunte says that he himself had rediscovered a lost species of butterfly there in 2008, not far from the region where Mr. Wangchuk Lepcha sighted the Chocolate-bordered Flitter.
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Butterfly guardian surveys Yunnan biodiversity
China Daily
Butterfly guardian surveys Yunnan biodiversity
China Daily
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