Butterfly Season at Jim’s Jungle Retreat

Lycaenidae is the largest family of butterflies with more than 6000 species found across the world. In India there are more than 440 species of butterflies belonging to this family. Most of these species have blue upperparts and hence these are called ‘Blues’.

Rounded Pierrot is a tiny butterfly belonging to family Lycaenidae. It is an uncommon species to encounter in Corbett Tiger Reserve. It is a tiny butterfly with a wingspan is 23-28 mm and is endemic to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. It has a slow fluttery flight over low grasses and shrubs. Primarily a species of lowlands, it has been recorded upto 2130 m in the Himalayas and is active throughout the year.    

Forget-Me-Not is another butterfly belonging to family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly with a wingspan of 23-35 mm. An uncommon species in Corbett Tiger Reserve, it is distributed across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh in the Indian subcontinent and extending through south-east Asia till Australia. It is a fast flying butterfly and prefers open dry scrub and deciduous forests.

Summer and monsoon are good times to look for the butterflies in the foothills of Himalayas and there are many species being seen these days at Jim’s Jungle Retreat, located on the southern boundary of Corbett Tiger Reserve. These uncommon butterflies of Corbett Tiger Reserve have recently been photographed at Jim’s Jungle Retreat by the members of our naturalist team, Balam Singh and Jeewan Routela.