Southern Birdwing butterfly

About Southern Birdwing butterfly:

• It is also called the ‘Sahyadri Birdwing’ and it is India’s second largest butterfly species.
• Distribution: It is a large and striking butterfly species found in South Asia, majorly in the Western Ghats.
• It is exceptionally large in size, with wings that exceed the dimensions of smaller birds. This notable wingspan is the reason behind its name, “birdwing.“
• Males typically have black wings with greenish-blue markings, while females have a more extensive pattern with cream-coloured markings.
• It is the state butterfly of Karnataka.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Least concern

Key points about Western Ghats

• It is a mountain range that covers an area of 160,000 sq Km in a stretch of 1,600 Km parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula.
• It traverses through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world.
• These Ghats are home to high mountain forests, which moderate the tropical climate of the region and present one of the best examples of the monsoon system on the planet.

Q1: What are Biodiversity Heritage Sites?

These are areas that are unique, ecologically fragile ecosystems having rich biodiversity consisting of any one or more of the components such as;species richness, high endemism, presence of rare endemic and threatened species.

Source: India’s second largest butterfly species found in Madurai

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