Where would you spot 30 different butterfly species in one campus in Mylapore?
Easily in Queen Mary’s College, Mylapore.
Recently, the faculty of the department of zoology of Queen Mary’s College conducted a
Butterfly Walk for its students across the 17 acres campus located off the Marina.
The Walk was part of the Big Butterfly Season which this department hosts every year. “You cannot ignore life in this urban biodiversity zone, can we?,” asks Dr. E. Malini, head of the department. “Our campus is teeming with plant and insect life.”
Since 2011, Dr. Bavani Govindarajulu, associate professor at QMC’s zoology deaprtment has been documenting the presence of butterflies in the campus. She says, “The micro-ecosystem that exists in our college campus demonstrates how coastal proximity coupled with strategic, multi-tiered botanical growth creates a perfect micro-climate for butterflies.”
Students of a few other colleges were invited to join this Walk.
They reported spotting over 30 distinct species and an individual population count of about 230 butterflies. Spotted here were the Painted Lady, Spotted Joker, Crimson Tip and Blue Mormon. Also spotted was Southern Bird Wing – for the first time in many years in this campus – a species endemic to south India and the second largest butterfly in India.
Said Dr Bavani, “The QMC campus benefits from a unique geographical position – it is close to a beach and the sea. The coastal breeze paired with the rich, green canopy here encourages and protects these delicate species.”
