ITANAGAR, Sept 25 - More than 70 different species of butterflies were spotted and photographed during the 4th Ziro Butterfly Meet conducted at Pange, Talle Wildlife Sanctuary under Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. The four-day meet concluded today.
Event organisers informed that the key sighting included rediscovery of Giant Hopper (Aposticopterus fuliginosus), which is assumed to be the first live photograph in India and the first to be recorded from Arunachal Pradesh. The said species is reported to be very rare and so far, there has been no live photograph.
The species was sighted on the inaugural day at Pange Camp at an elevation of 1,849 metres by Punyo Chada, Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi and Nawang G Bhutia. Other significant species photographed by participants were Bhutan Glory, Brown Gorgon, Manipur Junglequeen, Scarce Blue Oakleaf, Yellow Owl, etc., and the moth mimicking Bhutan Glory (Apatani Glory).
Organised by Ngunu Ziro, a local NGO in collaboration with the Departments of Forests & Environment and Tourism, Butterflies of NE India Group, ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment) and BAMOS Nature Conservation Society of Sikkim, the four-day event had the participation of young butterfly enthusiasts from the host district including members of Apatani Students Union and Ziro Biodiversity Management Committee. Lower Subansiri DC Kemo Lollen and DFO of Hapoli Division, Koj Rinya attended the meet.
During the meet, Nawang G Bhutia was felicitated by Ngunu Ziro for entering Limca Book of Records for India on August 21 last for attracting maximum butterfly species to sit on his finger. On the concluding day, Yazali was declared to be the venue for the 5th Ziro Butterfly Meet 2018.
