Dragonflies & Butterflies of the Western Ghats Naturetrek Tour Report 6 – 15 September 2014 Common Jezebel, Delias eucharis by David Raju Syrandhri Clubtail Davidioides martini by Trisha Thompson Ruby-Tailed Hawklet by David Raju Rounded Palm Red-eye by David Raju Report compiled by David Raju Images by David Raju and Trisha Thompson Naturetrek Mingledown Barn Wolf's Lane Chawton Alton Hampshire GU34 3HJ England T: +44 (0)1962 733051 F: +44 (0)1962 736426 E: [email protected] W: www.naturetrek.co.uk Dragonflies & Butterflies of the Western Ghats Tour Report Tour Leader: David Raju Participants: Roland De La Moussaye Steve Dutmer Wendy Simons Trisha Thompson Day 1 Saturday 6th September Two members of the group started the tour in London with a flight to Kerala in India. Meanwhile the other two group members were making their own way from France and the Netherlands. This was to be a truly international tour. Day 2 Sunday 7th September Kochi to Kumarakom – Coconut Lagoon Resort The flight from the UK landed in the morning at Kochi International Airport, Kerala where all the group members including tour leader David met up. It turned out that two of the group were keen on dragonflies and the other two were interested in butterflies. After a quick and sumptuous breakfast at Kochi we headed towards Kumarakom. September is the best month to visit Kerala for exploring and studying butterflies and dragonflies because the state does not receive heavy rains during this month, however a few fleeting showers of rain during our trail were welcome. We experienced good sunny days through the rest of our tour. We had a good start locating some of the endemic damselflies such as Kerala Dartlet (Agriocnems keralensis), and we saw quite a few butterflies including Blue Tiger, Tailed Jay and Crimson Rose. We were looking for the largest Indian Butterfly, the Southern Birdwing, which is usually pretty common at the hotel but we had trouble locating it. A couple staying in the hotel asked our help to identify a butterfly they had photographed a few minutes earlier - Southern Birdwing. We had just missed it but that’s nature. On the positive side we managed to see about 22 different species of butterflies and 16 species of dragonflies at Kumarakom, a great start indeed. Day 3 - 5 Monday 8th to Wednesday 10th September Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary – Soma Birds Lagoon On the way to Thattekkad we stopped at a stream near Kootthattukulam to check for dragonflies. We saw more than 25 species of dragonflies within a stretch of about 100 metres. We also saw Black Rajah, an uncommon species of butterfly near streams. Thattekkad was full of surprises. We visited the different regions of Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary: Bhoothathankettu, Urulanthanni and Pooyamkutty. The best thing was that at all these places we had great butterfly and dragonfly sightings.....all in a span of three days. © Naturetrek March 15 1 Dragonflies & Butterflies of the Western Ghats Tour Report After missing it earlier, it was very rewarding to see India’s largest butterfly, Southern Birdwing. We also saw the flying beauty Paris Peacock, a few rare butterflies like Malabar Raven , Malabar Banded Swallowtail, Tamil Cat’s Eye, Clipper, and a recently recorded butterfly in the Western Ghats, Rounded Palm-redeye (Erionota torus). Syrandri Clubtail, Kodagu Clubtail, and Ruby-tailed Hawklet were a few unexpected, rare and endemic dragonflies we encountered at Thattekkad. Ruby-tailed Hawklet is supposed to be a rare dragonfly in Western Ghats but we saw quite lot of this beautiful dragonfly in Thattekkad and Periyar. We also saw Emerald Banded Skimmer, Asiatic Bloodtail, Iridescent Stream Glider, Malabar Torrent Dart and Wayanad Bamboo Tail. While meandering through a bamboo patch at Pooyamkutty, Roland expressed his desire to see Bamboo Treebrown, a butterfly he had tried to see on his many past trips to India. In fact he had been to India more than 30 times! David and Sudheesh, our local guide, tried to locate this butterfly in the bamboo thickets without success. Roland was advised that the butterfly was not common in this area and reassured that we might see Bamboo Treebrown later at Periyar. Day 6 - 8 Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th September Periyar Tiger Reserve - Spice Village Walking through the lush evergreen forests of Periyar Tiger Reserve was a sheer joy. Exploring and trying to sight the beautiful and dainty butterflies inside the forest was even more special. We found that Blue Mormon and Red Helen butterflies were pretty common and Glad-eye Bushbrown and Tamil Cat’s Eye gave us the best views. Cruiser was a special catch whilst we had special sightings of Common Map and Fulvous Pied Flat. We had lovely sightings of dragonflies including Blue Darner, Brown Darner, lots of Ruby-tailed Hawklets, Blue-tailed Yellow Skimmer, Jungle Grass Dart, Violet-striped Slender Dartlet and Sapphire-eyed Spreadwing. It was indeed a thrilling experience. But yet we had not sighted the Bamboo Treebrown, that rare butterfly Roland had been trying to sight for several years. Whilst discussing this with our resident naturalist Girish at the Spice village, he suggested that we should explore around the parking area to try and locate this butterfly. And yes, true to his suggestion, we found this elusive butterfly. There it was fluttering above us and eventually perched on top of the bamboo. Roland was carrying his ‘Papilio binoculars’ (specially made to see insects) and could see this beautiful butterfly clearly. After a few minutes it flew away, disappearing into the bamboo thicket. Our mission had been accomplished and Roland was very happy. But it was not over: while having our dinner at Spice village Roland whispered “David, turn around and look at the light”. There was another Bamboo Treebrown sitting near the light and getting the warmth. The butterfly was right in front of Roland and it stayed there the whole night making Roland the happiest man of all! 2 © Naturetrek Dragonflies & Butterflies of the Western Ghats Tour Report Day 9 Sunday 14th September Aleppy – Marrari Beach Resort On the way to Aleppy we saw a variety of butterflies fluttering around and we stopped at a few places to take a closer look at them. At Marrari we walked around the beach to find some butterflies and dragonflies. We saw a few butterflies including Psyche, Common Rose, Dark Grass Blue, Pale Grass Blue, Common Emigrant, Common Grass Yellow, Common Four-ring, Rustic and Angled Castor. Moving along we also sighted dragonflies including Rufous-backed Marsh Hawk, Ditch Jewel, Black Marsh Trotter, Greater Crimson Glider, Scarlet Marsh Hawk, Pied Paddy Skimmer and Coromandel Marsh Dart. We stayed overnight at Marrari. Day 10 Monday 15th September In the morning farewells and thanks were said to David. Two members of the group went to the airport for their flight back to the UK whilst the other two made their own way onwards. Later in the day the pair flying back to the UK landed at London Heathrow Airport and another Naturetrek adventure came to an end. This was the first Naturetrek Butterfly and Dragonfly expedition through the Western Ghats and we had sighted over 65 species of dragonflies and 105 species of butterflies. It was also heartening to see Roland completely blissful after finally having sighted the elusive Bamboo Treebrown on his 31st trip to India. 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The Naturetrek Facebook page is now live; do please pay us a visit! © Naturetrek March 15 3 Dragonflies & Butterflies of the Western Ghats Tour Report Species Lists Dragonflies & Damselflies Darners Family:Aeshnidae Blue-Tailed Green Darner Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839) Blue Darner Anax immaculifrons Rambur, 1842 Parakeet Darner Gynacantha bayadera Selys,1891 Brown Darner Gynacantha dravida Lieftinck,1960 Clubtails Family:Gomphidae Syrandhri Clubtail Davidioides martini Fraser,1924 Kodagu Clubtail Gomphidia kodaguensis Fraser,1923 Common Clubtail Ictinogomphus rapax (Rambur, 1842) Common Hooktail Paragomphus lineatus (Selys,1850) Skimmers Family:Libellulidae Trumpet-Tail Acisoma panorpoides Rambur, 1842 Scarlet Marsh Hawk Aethriamanta brevipennis (Rambur, 1842) Rufous-Backed Marsh Hawk Brachydiplax chalybea Brauer, 1868 Ditch Jewel Brachythemis contaminata (Fabricius,1793) Emerald-Banded Skimmer Cratilia lineata Foerster, 1903 Ruddy Marsh Skimmer Crocothemis servilia (Drury, 1770) Ground Skimmer Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur,1842) Rubytailed Hawklet Epithemis mariae (Laidlaw,1915) Amber Winged Marsh Glider Hydrobasileus croceus (Brauer, 1867) Asiatic Blood Tail Lathrecista asiatica (Fabricius, 1798) Fulvous Forest Skimmer Neurothemis fulvia (Drury, 1773) Pied Paddy Skimmer Neurothemis tullia (Drury, 1773) Brown-Backed Red Marsh Hawk Orthetrum chrysis (Selys, 1891) Blue Marsh Hawk Orthetrum glaucum (Brauer, 1865) Tricoloured Marsh Hawk Orthetrum luzonicum (Brauer, 1868) Crimson-Tailed Marsh Hawk Orthetrum pruinosum (Burmeister,1839) Green Marsh Hawk Orthetrum sabina (Drury, 1770) Blue-Tailed Yellow Skimmer Palpopleura sexmaculata (Fabricius, 1787) Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens