2019 Quarterly Magazine of The Nature and Butterfly Society Jul-Sep 2019
PATTAMPOOCHI
Q3
In search of the Palni Sailer A trip to Nilambur (KL) in search of specialities and rarities Butterfly diversity of Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore Early stages of Plains Blue Royal (Tajuria jehana) Artificial Intelligence and its application to butterfly conservation In News From the Facebook Pages
Red Pierrot - Talicada nyseus
PATTAMPOOCHI
Dear Butterfly Lovers, வணக்கம் [Greetings]. The period of April to June 2019 saw some interesting butterfly activities. The weather in April was relatively dry in most parts of Tamil Nadu and the butterfly activity were sparse. In the month of May with the start of thunderstorm season coupled with convectional rains, the eastward migration of Milkweed butterflies from Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats were noticed in the many parts of the state of Tamil Nadu. In the month of June, Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly migration was also noticed in the many parts of the state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. A detailed report on butterfly migration will be covered in the next issue. In the current issue, Mr. Madhan Kumar shares his experience of butterfly photography trip to Kodaikanal where he sighted some elusive butterflies like Palni Sailer, Malabar Flash and Nilgiri Clouded Yellow in the article 'In search of the Palni Sailer’. In the article ‘A trip to Nilambur (KL) in search of specialities and rarities’, Mr. Gopalakrishnan reports about his team’s visit to Nilambur, Kerala to document some rare butterflies and its great potential. Mr. Ramanasaran Hari shares his assessment of the butterfly diversity of Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore for period of the last one year (2018-19) where he had documented 84 species of butterflies so far. He has also briefly summarized his observations of the butterfly migration in his collage around various phases of the study period. He has also shared another article on his observation of early stages of Plains Blue Royal (Tajuria jehana). In the article 'Artificial Intelligence and its application to butterfly conservation', Mr. Theivaprakasham Hari tries to explain the various application of artificial intelligence that will contribute to butterfly conservation. We hope you enjoy going through this Newsletter and looking forward to your valuable feedback. We believe that the News Letter belongs to every one of us and expect more contribution from all our members going forward . Please write to tamilnadubutterflies@gmail.com
Editorial Team The Nature and Butterfly Society Pattampoochi– A quarterly magazine of The Nature and Butterfly Society Wings 3 Veins 3 Jul–Sep 2019. Issued on 01.07.2019 Issued from Coimbatore, TN For Private Circulation Only. Copy right is with TNBS. Please write to us for getting permission to use any of the contents Editor: A Pavendhan Editorial Team: Balakrishnan R, Gopalakrishnan S, Nishanth CV, Theivaprakasham H , Viswanathan S and Ramanasaran H The Nature and Butterfly Society (259/2018) is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975
Full Page Picture Credits: Plains Blue Royal (K Sravan Kumar), Red Pierrot and Hampson’s Hedge Hopper (Gopalakrishnan S), Dingy Scrub Hopper (Madhan Kumar) Common Three-ring and Tiny Grass Blue (Theivaprakasham H), Redspot (Nishanth CV), Long-banded Silverline (Pavendhan A) and Double-banded Judy (Balakrishnan R)
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Dingy Scrub Hopper - Aeromachus dubius
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In search of the Palni Sailer Madhan Kumar
Prelude: A couple of years ago, when I had just started photographing Butterflies, near Pillar Rocks in Kodaikanal, I took a photo of a butterfly which appeared unusual for a Common Sailer. Unable to ID it, I eventually deleted the photo.
lovcarz@gmail.com
Fast forward today, with much better understanding, I realized that I might have photographed the elusive Palni Sailer. Without the photo, it was a case of coulda, shoulda, woulda .... I decided that the only way for me to be sure is to once again photograph it. But Where? Searching in www.ifoundbutterflies.org and the Facebook butterfly groups, it dawned on me that almost all photographs were from the Munnar area. Pampadum Shola NP was decided as the target since the log house there is located on a place that is a slice of heaven and it is generally agreed as the best location for sighting another elusive species – Nilgiri Marten. A friend of mine who is into Astronomy wanted to join once he heard about how beautiful the night the skies can be there and another birder friend who wanted to photograph Shola birds also decided to join. So we booked the Log House from the Shola parks website run by the State Govt of Kerala and were all set for the trip. Wish List: Before I set out on a trip, I usually prepare a wish list of the species that I want to photograph. No guesses for which ones made the list as #1 & #2!! Apart from them, I hoped to add other local endemics like Palni Bushbrown, Palni Fritillary etc., along with my one of my favorite birds – The White-bellied Shortwing/Sholakili. Getting There: We decided to take the Chinnar route since there were quite a few records of Nilgiri Tit sightings there. It was the last day of the heat wave and had very poor butterfly activity there. It was too hot and hence decided to stop and try our luck at a stream in Marayoor. To our bad luck, stray dogs and Bonnet Macaques were fighting and had to abandon that location too despite butterfly activity. The third and first meaningful stop was at Lakkom Falls. There was very good butterfly activity. A lot of Red Helens and Blue Bottles were mudpuddling in a steep outcrop near the cascade. Saw a club beak and another hedge blue species which proved elusive. We reached Pampadum Shola and started the trek towards our log house. Straight away saw a lot of Nilgiri Clouded Yellows being very active. Near the check dam saw a small black skipper that I couldn't ID. Once we crossed the grass lands and reached the shola patch, a surprisingly high number of Red Disc Bushbrowns, Dingy Scrub Hoppers and Red Admirals were spotted. As the sun started going down, a lot of Nilgiri Flycatchers, Black and Orange Flycatchers and 3 White-bellied Sholakilis were active around our accommodation. Two herd of bison came out of the forest and started foraging in the open grassland below us. A troupe of Nilgiri Langurs would act as sentries giving us a good feel of the animal movement in the shola which was barely 20 feet away from the elephant trench surrounding our wooden log house. It was a clear sign that we made a good decision about our camp. As the night set in, we were treated to a beautiful star lit sky and took good photographs of the night sky. The D-day arrived and we opted for the trek route that joins the now abandoned Kodaikanal-Munnar road. It was PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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an arduous climb with the telephoto, macro, wide angle lenses and few litres of water but was motivated by the chance of spotting the Palni Sailer. En route, a lot of Palni Laughing Thrushes were catching butterflies easily but it was a difficult environment to photograph without flash light. Our guide advised against the use of flash due to the presence of Gaurs and Elephants. On reaching the road at the crest of the mountain, the others took a break, while the activity had just begun for me. A large butterfly that looked like a Southern Duffer was flying a far. I noticed that the forests towards the Kodaikanal side were already bathed in plenty of sunshine while towards Top Station, the sun light was blocked by the peaks and was still cold and dark. Decided to walk a few hundred meters towards Kodaikanal after being warned of elephants and straight away saw a Sailer basking in the canopy of a shola tree which was at eye level for me. Decided to take a few record shots using telephoto lens and then approached the target. By the time I had switched to macro lens and worked on the settings, the butterfly flew away. I was pretty sure I had photographed the Palni Sailer but couldn't verify it since the nearest spot with 4G/3G network was at least 6 Kms away. Saw numerous Nilgiri Blue Tigers that were basking and flying around. We decided to proceed and within a few hundred metres noticed signs of a male elephant. Treading cautiously, saw a Nilgiri Four Ring, Indian Cabbage White and a White Hedge Blue. I was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of Red Disc Bushbrowns and felt the habitat was thriving. As we started the descent, it was abundantly clear that the male elephant was near by and had to take extreme precautions. A lot of time was spent on figuring out the safe way ahead and couldn't focus on butterflies. Eventually another group that was coming up from Top Station side were able to sight the elephant and hence we could relax a little. Saw a couple of White Disc Hedge Blues closer to the KFD check post at the end of the trek. Once we finished the trek and proceeded towards the Top Station eateries, saw another endemic – the Palni Fritillary! By now, it was dark and started drizzling. Took a lift from a KFD vehicle and reached the safety of the amenity centre when it started raining heavily for a couple of hours. It was cloudy for the rest of the day and all that we could spot were Dingy Scrub Hoppers, Nilgiri Clouded Yellows and Red Admirals. As the evening passed by, a tiger started to roar. It is always wonderful to hear a tiger roar in a hilly forest – the roar echoes and leave us in awe of the majestic nature of the beast. By now the tusker had reached the valley below and the KFD watchers identified it as a conflict veteran and set a small fire to the grass surrounding their buildings to keep distance. The annoyed tusker started trumpeting in anger and was chasing every vehicle in sight well in to the night. We were warned through radio not to venture beyond the elephant trench till they give the go ahead in the morning. We had visits from Porcupines, the very elusive Brown Mongoose, stripe necked Mongoose and another elusive species – Jerdon's Palm Civet. Unfortunately we couldn't photograph any of them as any flash of light would involve a rebuke from the KFD watchers monitoring the elephant. The next day the sun was up and while checking out, noticed a very small butterfly that kept on buzzing ahead of us in the path. It slowed for a short while and it turned out to be a White Disc Hedge Blue! As we drove towards Bodimettu, was a little disappointed that I couldn't get the Palni Bushbrown but was extremely happy when I realized that the sailer indeed turned out to be Palni Sailer. Near the sholas of Bison Valley, I saw a butterfly that appeared to be a Malabar Flash at the edge of a deep ravine where road work was going on. Tried for close to an hour but eventually gave up as the movement of the vehicles seemed to affect the butterfly a lot and would frequently disappear only to reappear and tease me later. I could spot Fulvettas, Scimitar Babblers, Square Tailed Bulbuls, Northern Goshawk and heard calls of Grey headed Bulbuls too. Due to road work, there was no possibility of photography near the cardamom plantations of Poopara and eventually entered TN with a heavy heart. The Sunday evening speeding vehicles meant we abandoned any thoughts of photography and decided to proceed towards our homes. Overall it turned out to be a very satisfying trip! PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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List of butterflies sighted
31
Dark Blue Tiger
65
Dingy Lineblue
Papilionidae - Swallowtails 1 Red Helen
32 33 34
Nilgiri Tiger Plain Tiger Striped Tiger
66
Common Cerulean
67
Forget-me-not
68
Common Quaker
35 36
Common Crow Double Branded Crow
69
Peablue
70
Common Pierrot
37 38
Malabar Tree Nymph White Four Ring
71
Banded Pierrot
72
Red Pierrot
39 40 41
Common Five Ring Common Leopard Palni Fritillary
73
Tiny Grass Blue
74
Small Cupid
75
Common Hedge blue
42 43
Common Three Ring Nilgiri Four ring
76
White Hedge Blue
77
Plain Hedge Blue
44 45 46
Rustic Glad eye Bushbrown Common Bushbrown
78
White Disc Hedge Blue
79
Common Lime
80
Zebra Blue
47 48
Red Disc Bushbrown Medus Brown
49 50
2
Southern Blue Bottle
3
Common Mormon
4
Blue Mormon
5
Tailed Jay
6
Common Rose
7
Crimson Rose
8
Southern Birdwing
Pieridae - Whites & Yellows 9
Indian Pioneer
10
Common albatross
11
Common Gull
12
Common Grass Yellow
13
Three Spot Grass Yellow
14
Greater Orange Tip
15
Lemon Emigrant
16
Common Jezebel
17
Dark Wanderer
18
Common Wanderer
19
Greater Orange Tip
20
Small Salmon Arab
21
Psyche
22
Sahyadri Cabbage White
23
Nilgiri Clouded Yellow
24
Crimson Tip
Nymphalidae – Brush-footed Butterflies 25
Lemon Pansy
26
Grey Pansy
27
Blue Pansy
28
Yellow Pansy
29 30
Peacock Pansy Blue Tiger
Hesperiidae – Skippers 80
Common Snow Flat
Chestnut Streaked Sailer Common Sailer
81
Fulvous pied flat
82
Chestnut Bob
51 52
Palni Sailer Common Lascar
83
Pothanus spp
84
Tamil Grass Dart
53 54
Common Castor Chocolate Pansy
85
Dingy Scrub Hopper
86
Grass Demon
55 56 57
Great Eggfly Danaid Eggfly Tawny Coaster
58 59
Club Beak Lobed Beak
60 61
Red Admiral Tamil Yeoman
Un confirmed/No photos 87 88
Southern Duffer Malabar Flash
Lycaenidae - Blues 62 Tailless Lineblue 63
Common Lineblue
64
Pointed Ciliate Blue
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Hampson’s Hedge Hopper - Baracus hampsoni
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A trip to Nilambur (KL) in search of specialities and rarities Gopala Krishnan S gopal42986@gmail.com
Nilambur is a municipality and Taluk in Malappuram district of Kerala. It is located close to the Nilgiris range of the Western Ghats on the banks of Chaliyar river (Wiki). It is a beautiful place dotted with Rubber ,coffee plantations and still retains untouched forest cover in the northern part of Chaliyar river. Five of us (Mr. Gopalakrishnan, Mr. Pavendhan, Mr. Viswanathan, Mr. Balakrishnan, Mr. Nishanth) reached the town on 27th night .There are decent stay options available and we have booked a hotel in advance. Our Buttering friend Mr. Subash Pulikkal ,on whose invite the trip was planned, joined us in the morning for breakfast.
Our journey to the butterflying spot started around 7.45AM and we reached the spot in half an hour drive, which has a river on the one side and forest in the other. The place has received rains in the previous night and it was sunny in the morning . Our first sighting of the session started with the beautiful Southern Birdwing and soon other butterflies started fluttering , Malabar rose, Tamil Catseye, Dusky Partwing, Common Redeye, Common Map, Malabar Tree Nymph and Cornelian being other highlights. After spending an hour there we headed for the second spot which was some 5 km from there. We were greeted with the Hampson Hedge hopper – which is a lifer for all of us! We could spot many specimen hopping there and giving us enough photographic opportunities. The highlights of the place were Long banded Silverline and Tamil grass dart. A mating pair of Chestnut bobs posed enough for a photo session. From there we started our journey back to the town and on the way, made a stopover in the riverside to see mud puddling. We could spot a lonely Blue Mormon and few Common Emigrants mud puddling. PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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A trip to Nilambur (KL) in search of specialities and rarities
An elegant Clipper too flew over the area. With that we called it a day and returned to the town and left back home. During the walks Mr. Subash showed us the presence of many Larval host plants of various butterflies and informed us that during peak season we can spot 80+ species in a single session if the climate is sunny. It is a lovely place worth visiting during July-Oct . We are very grateful to Mr. Subash Pulikkal for his valuable time and arrangements.
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Butterfly watch trip to Nilambur- Kerala
List of Butterflies Sighted:
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Common Three-ring - Ypthima asterope PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 2 3
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Butterfly diversity of Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore Ramanasaran Hari ramanasaran21@gmail.com
My college is located in between Coimbatore City and Pollachi. The place mostly consists of Palm Plantations and Agricultural Farms and with some of the trees. Temperature is slightly higher at this place when compared to Coimbatore City.
Karpagam College of Pharmacy
I have been watching butterflies in my college for past one year. I was sceptic about the butterfly number counts as the college area is smaller. However, the total butterfly count for the year exceeded my expectation with 84 species. I started watching butterflies from January 2018 and continuing till date. Each month had different species show up around. The most common butterflies were Danaid Eggfly, Great Eggfly, Dark Cerulean and Pea Blue.
Place: Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Othakaalmandapam District: Coimbatore How to reach: From Pollachi and Coimbatore. Habitat: Grassland, Cultivation
By the start of January 2018, most the areas around the college were dry. The same scenario continued till March 2018. The most commonly seen butterflies during this period were the African Marbled Skipper, Indian Skipper and Danaid Eggfly. After the month of March, the summer rains start and slowly the place turns green. Common Rose and Crimson Rose would start to appear more in number. Along with Roses, Common Grass Yellows and Three spot Grass Yellows also will grow in numbers during the summer rainy season. By the month of April, the migration started just a month before the commencement of South West Monsoon. Plentiful of Blue tigers, Common Crow, Double Branded Crow, Common Emigrants, Pea Blues, Red Helens and Lime Butterflies were seen during the migration. By the start of June, most of the other species starts to come out. More number of Common Banded Peacock was sighted on this June month. Especially, Chestnut Streaked Sailor, Common Baron, Peacock Pansy, Common Leopard and Common Nawab had appeared on the month of June and July. A large number of Grass Jewels, Babul blues come out during the August. More number of Blues can be seen till November. Again during the September month, migration started. The butterflies namely Blue tigers, Common Crows, Common Emigrants, Pea blues, Red Helens and Lime Butterflies were seen on migration. Pea blues were large in number than the blue tigers, crows and lime butterfly during the migration before the onset of North East Monsoon period.
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Butterfly diversity of Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore
Plain Tiger
Common Sailer
Great Eggfly
Pea Blue
African Babul Blue
Common Three-ring
Plains Cupid
Common Grass Yellow
Gram Blue
Common Mormon (f)
Zebra Blue
Mottled Emigrant
Tailed Jay
Common Banded Peacock
Blue Tiger PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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Butterfly diversity of Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore
List of Butterflies Place: Karpagam College of Pharmacy, Othakaalmandapam, Coimbatore. Habitat: Grassland, Cultivation. Papilionidae - Swallowtails 1 Common Jay 2 Tailed Jay 3 Common Rose 4 Crimson Rose 5 Common Mormon 6 Red Helen 7 Blue Mormon 8 Lime Butterfly 9 Common Banded Peacock Pieridae - Whites & Yellows 10 Three-spot Grass Yellow 11 Common Grass Yellow 12 Common Emigrant 13 Mottled Emigrant 14 Small Salmon Arab 15 Crimson-tip 16 Small Orange-tip 17 Plain Orange-tip 18 Large Salmon Arab 19 White Orange-tip 20 Yellow Orange-tip 21 Great Orange-tip 22 Common Wanderer 23 Common Albatross 24 Common Gull 25 Common Jezebel 26 Psyche 27 Pioneer Nymphalidae – Brush Footed Butterflies 28 Blue Tiger 29 Dark Blue Tiger 30 Striped Tiger 31 Plain Tiger 32 Double-branded Crow 33 Common Crow 34 Common Nawab 35 Southern Palmfly 36 Common Evening Brown 37 Common Bushbrown 38 Common Three-ring 39 White Four-ring 40 Tawny Coster
41 Common Leopard 42 Common Sailer 43 Chestnut-streaked Sailer 44 Common Baron 45 Angled Castor 46 Common Castor 47 Blue Pansy 48 Yellow Pansy 49 Chocolate Pansy 50 Peacock Pansy 51 Lemon Pansy 52 Great Eggfly 53 Danaid Eggfly Lycaenidae - Blues 54 Indian Sunbeam 55 Apefly 56 Common Lineblue 57 Tailless Lineblue 58 Angled Pierrot 59 Banded Blue Pierrot 60 Dark Cerulean 61 Common Cerulean 62 Forget-me-not 63 Pea Blue 64 Zebra Blue 65 Common Pierrot 66 Dark Grass Blue 67 Lesser Grass Blue 68 Pale Grass Blue 69 Tiny Grass Blue 70 Indian Cupid 71 Bright Babul Blue 72 African Babul Blue 73 Gram Blue 74 Small Grass Jewel 75 Grass Jewel 76 Plains Cupid 77 Lime Blue Hesperiidae – Skippers 78 Brown Awl 79 Common Banded Awl 80 African Marbled Skipper 81 Indian Skipper 82 Chestnut Bob 83 Giant Redeye 84 Rice Swift
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Early stages of Plains Blue Royal (Tajuria jehana) Ramanasaran Hari ramanasaran21@gmail.com
Egg The butterfly oviposited eggs on leaves of Dendrophthoe falcata. Egg was in the shape of golf ball dome. The first instar caterpillar hatched from the egg in 2 days.
First instar
First instar and Second instar During the first two instars, the caterpillar fed only on the dermal layer or the upper layer of the leaf. The leaves kept for the caterpillar as feed got fungal infection sooner that I had to change the feed twice a day. The caterpillar was more active during the day. The caterpillar moved faster compared to the caterpillars of other Lycaenidae. The first instar stage just lasted for a day. The second Instar lasted for 2 days.
Second instar
Third instar During its third instar, the caterpillar started to eat the leaf completely. This was also the instar stage where the caterpillar ate more leaves when compared to other instars. The duration of third instar was bit longer and lasted for lasted for 5 days. The duration of third instar was mostly active during the night. Third instar PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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Early stages of Plains Blue Royal (Tajuria jehana)
Fourth instar and Fifth instar The fourth instar and fifth Instar had a very short period. The caterpillar was more active both day and night. The fourth instar stage lasted for three days and the fifth instar stage lasted for two days. After the fifth Instar stage, the caterpillar started its transformation to chrysalis stage.
Fourth Instar
Fifth Instar
Chrysalis
Pupation in progress
Pupa
The chrysalis of this species is different when compared to other caterpillars from lycaenidae family. The head portion of the caterpillar stuck onto the leaf strongly and its body started to turn rigid. After a day, the caterpillar completely turned into chrysalis.
Adult The chrysalis eclosed after nine days into a beautiful adult with bright blue open wing. The complete metamorphosis of butterfly from the oviposition of egg to emergence of adult butterfly from chrysalis were completed in 24 days.
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Tiny Grass Blue - Zizula hylax PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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Artificial Intelligence and its application to butterfly conservation Theivaprakasham Hari theivaprakasham@gmail.com
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the most frequently heard in the news headlines nowadays. I have been fascinated over the years by the notion of Artificial Intelligence and latest developments. Right from my college days, I started following the progress of AI and wondered about scope for the implementing AI in the real time scenario for butterfly conservation. Before 2017, the infrastructure facility for AI was limited and it also proved to be a expensive affair. But in last two years (2017-2019), under the initiative of Industrial Revolution 4.0, there have been various technological and infrastructural advancements noticed in the domain of Cyber Physical systems and Artificial Intelligence at a exponential phase. This tremendous growth phase has reduced infrastructure expenses and enhanced accessibility for all interested individuals. From 2018, I started taking some online courses on deep learning and trying to build various butterfly conservationfocused applications.
https://blog.equinix.com/blog/2018/02/06/davos-2018-the-uks-artificial-intelligence-future/
In this article, I will try to explain the separate application of artificial intelligence that will contribute to butterfly conservation.
So what's Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Artificial Intelligence is the intelligence exhibited by machines. AI is a branch of computer science which deals with creating computers or machines as intelligent as human beings that enable high-level cognitive processes such as thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision-making, combined with advancements in information collection and aggregation, analytics and computer processing power. The application of AI finds a place in almost all the subjects like Computer Science, Psychology, Neuron Science, Medical Science, Physical Sciences, Biology, Mathematics, Sociology and Philosophy. Currently, the applications of AI are finding a promising phase in Healthcare Sector (faster, cheaper and more accurate diagnosis), Business Sector (Automation of job positions), Education Sector (automated accessing, grading and rewarding marks), Financial Sector (collection of personal data and to provide financial advice), Legal Sector (faster resolution through Automation). Manufacturing sector (more advanced exponential technologies reducing time and improving supply chain ecosystem), Intelligent Robots, Green Technology, Gaming (devising crucial strategies), Speech Recognition, Cyber Security and Natural Language Processing. One of the many promising capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is its potential application to better understanding our natural environment. PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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Artificial Intelligence and its application to butterfly conservation
AI applications related to butterfly conservation Image Recognition The conventional method of butterfly identification is based on their different morphological characters namely wing-venation, colour, shape, patterns and through the dissection studies and molecular techniques. These methods are tedious, expensive and highly time consuming. Even the books for butterfly identification available in the market is difficult to use for beginners due to scientific terms and complexity involved. With an inspiration from this concept of AI, I tried to use of Artificial Intelligence in butterfly identification. I have developed a simple butterfly identification application to identify the 150 common butterflies of Western Ghats. One can access the same from https://flyid.herokuapp.com/ . This application of Butterfly AI has tremendously reduced this complexity by automatically and instantly identifying butterflies with butterfly images. The days are not so far where, with the addition of emerging Internet of Things technology, the live human less survey of butterflies is feasible to reduce the human life danger and vulnerability from wildlife.
Intelligent image organizer Many image organizer software are available in the market which helps to organize images easily. Most of the image organizers organize the images based on the EXIF details present behind the images. But, in certain specialized field like wildlife photography, organizing the images based on EXIF details are of less importance. This is one of the main limitation of the present day image organizer softwares. The most useful organizing pattern of wildlife photography is based on their actual classification/identification. Identification of a wildlife species is a tedious technical process that requires special expertise. Organizing images followed by the identification is also a laborious task that needs more time and patience.
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Artificial Intelligence and its application to butterfly conservation
The aforementioned limitation of traditional image organizer software can be overcome using the power of Artificial Intelligence technology. I have developed a powerful intelligence image organizer that can identify the butterfly species and automatically classify them into their respective folders reducing the time burden of the end user. Interested people can check out the advanced development article here. https://medium.com/@theivaprakashamhari/classifying-and-organizing-butterfly-images-in-desktop-using-fastai-and-python-43e22df2f02f
Before organizing
After organizing
Enhancing arts and creativity Although, I am lover of arts and paintings, my drawing/painting abilities reach almost a negligible percentage. I came across this news when I was browsing the internet that Google came up with an application called AutoDraw. ‘AutoDraw’ is a new kind of drawing tool that pairs the magic of machine learning with drawings from talented artists to help everyone create anything visual, fast. I was fascinated by the description of application and started to draw my first rough sketch of butterfly. To my amusement, at the very next moment, various suggestions were shown above my drawing to convert my rough sketch into a clean final butterfly sketch. This AI application will surely augment both the common man and artist to explore and enhance their creativity. https://www.autodraw.com/
Data Analytics and Simulation Modeling Data analytics refers to qualitative and quantitative techniques and processes used to enhance productivity of a task. In the field of butterfly conservation, the region wise butterfly data from various surveys can be assessed to help the government to know the real time status of butterflies diversity and to formulate schemes and futuristic policies for butterfly conservation. Along with the integration of AI, the accurate statistical predictions can be produced 1000 times faster than the time taken using standard methods. It can therefore be simpler to predict the species distribution, butterfly seasons and the onset of butterfly migration. For many industries, AI had been the eye opener. More research needs to be carried out by sector, government, and academic and non-profit industries to understand the complete scope of what is feasible. It won't be simple, but we can help guarantee a better future by implementing the strength of AI to assist both beings and our natural systems flourish. PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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In News
Butterfly Outreach Program at Summer camp 2019 On the request of Mr. Prakash Loganathan, Mr. Ramanasaran Hari from TNBS volunteered as a resource person to conduct the butterfly outreach program at Digital Library, Erode on 25th May, 2019. A total of 50+ children who participated in the session were educated about the butterflies and its importance to our ecosystem. https://www.etvbharat.com/tamil/ tamil-nadu/city/erode/erode-students -been-thought-of-butterflies-1/tamilnadu20190525183549817
Pre-monsoon Butterfly Migration June 2019
Whenever the spectacular migration happens of any significance, and also the absence of it, TNBS have always taken pains to record the dates, numbers, species and other details thanks to its dedicated members. We have also taken pains in disseminating this information to the larger public so that such events can be observed and seen by everyone. Such data also become immediately available in the public domain and shall help researchers immensely of the migrational behavioural aspects. A detailed observations on the pre-monsoon butterfly migration was covered in the news article of the Coimbatore Edition (Pg:2) of the ‘The Hindu’ newspaper on 13 June 2019. Our thanks to Mr. Wilson Thomas of The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/fall-in-butterflymigration-before-monsoon/article27891709.ece
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In News Butterfly migration at Kallar Horticulture Garden, Coimbatore
News coverage on pre-monsoon butterfly migration Kallar Horticulture Garden, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore by Simplicity News Team on 09 Jun 2019. https://simplicity.in/news-detail.php?nid=54168
A video coverage on butterfly migration at Kallar Horticulture Garden, Mettupalayam, Coimbatore by News7 Tamil television was published on 09 Jun 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_yrmzs-eX4&feature=youtu.be
Painted Lady butterfly migration, Coimbatore
The observations of Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly migration at Coimbatore was covered in the news article of the Coimbatore Edition of the ‘The Hindu’ newspaper on 23 June 2019. Our thanks to Mr. Wilson Thomas of The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tptamilnadu/painted-lady-butterflies-flutter-coimbatore-skies/ article28113655.ece
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? Common Hedge Blue, Acytolepis puspa Redspot - Zesius chrysomallus PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
Plains Blue Royal by Sravan Kumar
Striated Five Ring by Prakash Loganathan
Scarce Shot Silverline by Pavendhan A
Common Emigrant by Arun Kumar
Mottled Emigrant by Darshan M. Trivedi
Plains Cupid by Theivaprakasham Hari
Pioneer by Merlin Selvan
Tamil Treebrown by Saravana Saran PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
Dark Blue Tiger by Malainadan Azad
Striped Pierrot by T.A. Natarajan
Painted Courtesan by Ramanasaran Hari
Dark Blue Tiger by Ramesh Thiyagarajan
White orange Tip by Rengaraj Bettai
Pelopidas sp by Kalai Chelvan Thulasingam
Spot Swordtail by Jeswin Kingsley
Nilgiri Clouded Yellow by Dharini Varadharajan PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
Bright Babul Blue by Gopal Krishnan
Plain Banded Awl by Madhan Kumar
Palni Four Ring by ஆண்டிபட்டி பாண்டி
Common Crow by Nagaraj Latha
Painted lady by Vinithashri Gautam
Common Grass Dart by Devika Devi
Plain Tiger by Enger Soll
Cruiser by Vinod Sadasivam PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
Lesser Grass Blue by Sudharshan Kuselan
Chocolate Pansy by Jafer Holmes
Lime Butterfly by Rohini Ramalingam
Hampson's Hedge Hopper by Thalavai Pandi
Common Pierrot by Hema Mohandas
Wax Dart by Madhan Kumar
Palni Fritillary by Bhanu Mathi
Common Evening Brown by Franklin Sukumar PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
White-tipped Lineblue by Nishanth CV
Common Albatross by Anand Rithik
Common Gull by Edward Gnanaraj
Southern Birdwing by Kalmadi Rajiv
Parnara bada by Vijaykumar Ramamoorthy
Red Admiral by ஆண்டிபட்டி பாண்டி
Lesser Grass Blue by Muniraj Palanisamy
Dark Blue Tiger by Sounder Ells PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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From the Facebook Pages...
Blue Pansy by Bhupathi Vignesh
Banded Royal by Muniraj Palanisamy
Common Sailer by Abdul Hakkeem
Silverstreak Blue by Elavarasan Malaiyappan
Painted lady by Vinod Sadasivam
Banana Skipper by Vishwa Nathan
Double banded Judy by Rengaraj Bettai
Psyche by Sravan Kumar PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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Back Issues
Back Issues From the first issue released on Jan 1, 2017, we have released 10 issues so far, every quarter, and all the back volumes may be found in the following link: https://sites.google.com/view/tamilnadubutterflies/
Contribution to News Letters Our quarterly newsletter contains a broad range of news and articles on butterflies that are specifically interest to the Tamil Nadu landscape. We look forward to receive contributions from as many cross-section of naturalists as possible on their butterfly experiences, field visits, checklists, interesting sightings, butterfly behaviours observed, life cycles, educative picture stories, etc. We are excited to hear from you all! If you would like to contribute an article, news item or event notice for our newsletter please contact us at tamilnadubutterflies@gmail.com
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Long-banded Silverline Spindasis lohita
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Oriental Grass Jewel, Freyeria putli Double-banded Judy Abisara bifasciata PATTAMPOOCHI A TNBS MAGAZINE WINGS 3 VEINS 3
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