Palmking : Rare Butterfly Sighted In Tamil Nadu
The rare butterfly Palmking (Amathusia phidippus) was sighted for the first time in Tamil Nadu.
- It is the 321st species of butterfly found in Tamil Nadu among the 1,500 species in India.
- Palmking was first recorded in South India by British scientist H.S.Ferguson in 1891. More than a Century later, it was rediscovered in 2007.
- Palmking belongs to the Nymphalidae subfamily and feeds on palm, coconut and calamus varieties of plants.
- The butterfly is characterised by its brown colour and dark bands and is described as reclusive, mostly resting in the shade.
- It is not easy to spot a Palmking because its wood colour makes for easy camouflage and it rarely spreads its wings.
- This butterfly is widely distributed across parts of India, Myanmar, Indo China, Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand.
- It occurs in the Indonesian archipelago and the Philippines.
- In India, Palmking sightings were recorded in the forests of Arippa, Shendurney, Periyar Tiger Reserve in the south of Western Ghats.
