A young researcher, named Reetu Patial, working with the Forest Wildlife Division, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh has spotted and identified a rare species of butterfly.

The rare species of butterfly, golden emperor [botanical name Dilipa Morgiana (Westwood)], was spotted by her recently in the Trambadi forest, near Sundernagar.

Notably, the golden emperor butterfly had been placed among the rare species of butterfly by the World Butterfly Society.

About Golden Emperor:

The golden emperor butterfly, with a wingspan of 70 to 82 mm belongs to the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. The golden emperor butterfly adults are rich dark or golden brown with transverse central and discalapical bands of larger golden-bronze spots having white apical spots on the UPF that is golden bronze, with base and variable marginal area dark brown. Its female is rare but has three generation in a year, with adults on wings in March, June and from August to October.

An expert flyer, the adult golden emperor is fond of over-ripe fruits like apricot, peach and mango and is attracted to Buddleia blossoms. It is seen more often on damp patches and flies between 700 and 2340m.

The specie is found in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Sikkim and Uttarakhand in India, besides Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam and northern Myanmar.

Reetu Patial who is undergoing training at the Forest Training Centre, Sundernagar, as part of research work, has already identified 35 species of butterflies.
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