Dehradun, Apr 9: The research branch of the Uttarakhand Forest Department has set up the State's first butterfly gallery at the Nature Education Centre in Jolly Grant, Dehradun. The gallery displays high-resolution photographs of butterflies from Uttarakhand, providing visitors with an engaging display of these unique species. The gallery serves as an educational and awareness platform, highlighting the ecological importance of butterflies in pollination, food chains, and overall ecosystem health.

Mukul Sonal, Forest Range Officer, told ANI that the butterfly gallery is of great benefit to those who study butterflies. "Uttarakhand is home to around 500 species of butterflies. Here, we have high-resolution displays of 105 of them. The lifecycle of butterflies is demonstrated here. Also, the migration of Munnar butterflies from one generation to the next is displayed with locations. The mud-puddling behaviour modelling of a butterfly, where butterflies take sodium from mud for reproduction, is also demonstrated here," Sonal said.

"Uttarakhand's State butterfly is the Common peacock. Here, its structure is displayed along with that of the Munnar butterfly. We have also kept specimens of important butterflies in Uttarakhand. Those who study butterflies can benefit from this. This gallery is open to the public," Sonal added.

The butterfly gallery is an effort to highlight Uttarakhand's remarkable butterfly diversity and promote greater appreciation for these ecologically important species. By educating visitors about their role in the ecosystem, the gallery aims to encourage conservation efforts and raise awareness about their protection, said officials Uttarakhand is home to around 500 species of butterflies. The gallery displays 105 butterfly species from five different families- Papilionidae, Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, and Pieridae. Of the 1318 species of butterflies reported from India, over 460 species have been recorded in Uttarakhand.

This vast variety of butterflies, greater than the total variety of butterflies found in peninsular India or the whole of Europe, inhabit different types of forests, which are found at different elevations. The best time to see butterflies in Uttarakhand is between April and June in the lower Himalayas, July and August in the high Himalayas and the trans-Himalayan area, and again September to November at medium and low elevations.

In Uttarakhand, butterflies have been reported up to an elevation of 5,800 meters. At such an elevation, air is thin, and only a few species can survive. In some cases, the strikingly beautiful colours of butterflies signal the fact that they are poisonous; some brightly coloured butterflies that are not poisonous mimic poisonous species. Some species also camouflage themselves as a strategy to save themselves from predation. The state butterfly of Uttarakhand is Papilio polyctor, which is known as the Common Peacock.

(ANI)

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