We all love butterflies. Many have noticed the drop in their number; few have bothered to find out why. Even fewer have taken the efforts to bring these beauties back to our lives. Mr Sammilan Shetty, 31, is one among these very few. ‘Sammilan Shetty’s Butterfly Park’ in Belvai, Karnataka spread over 7.35 acres of forested land is a result of his long years of relentless work and effort.
As a young boy, Shetty was no different from other children in terms of his love for butterflies. He ran behind them; he was fascinated by their colours and patterns. However, his fascination did not dwindle. Rather his curiosity and hunger to acquire more knowledge about these ‘winged jewels’ kept increasing. This led him to take up Zoology after schooling, and for his graduation project he did a study on local butterfly species in his native, Belvai.
The turning point, however, he says, was when he read ‘The Book of Indian Butterflies’ written by Mr Isaac Kehimkar. The book changed his life and made Shetty realize his calling. He converted the land he owned into an open conservation park for the butterflies. In 2013 the park was inaugurated by none other than the man whose book inspired him, Mr Isaac Kehimkar. Today his park hosts around 135 species of butterflies which also include ones that are endemic to the Western Ghats. This organization focuses on conserving butterflies as well as educating people, especially the younger generation, about the need for the conservation of these flying jewels.
“For butterfly population to sustain we must have nectar plants as well as host plants, i.e., such plant species on which butterflies prefer to lay eggs,” says Shetty. Lemon trees, false ashoka, cinnamon, Ficus sp, mango, curry leaf, Hopea ponga trees are the most commonly found host tree species in his park which springs to beauty during the months of August to September when the butterfly population is most diverse.
As Shetty was explaining about these plant species and the egg laying pattern of butterflies, he suddenly shouted, “Look there! The Southern Birdwing,” pointing his finger towards a tree where this black and yellow beauty endemic to South India was seen flying magnificently. “The female of this species is India’s largest butterfly. It has a wingspan of 19cm!” Shetty explained.
However, his favourite butterfly isn’t the Southern Birdwing. “I want people to spot the Malabar Banded Peacock when they come here. That is my favourite and the park’s logo is this butterfly. I chose this not only because it is my personal favourite but because it is an exquisite butterfly endemic to Western Ghats.”
To two families from Mangaluru who had come to visit the park Shetty explained in detail, among much else, why different butterflies fly at different speeds. “There are butterflies that fly fast. It is because they have to escape from their predators. But there are butterfly species that fly very slowly and leisurely. These species are the ones that taste unpleasant and are distasteful to their predators. If at all any predator attacks these butterfly species and try to eat them the flavour of these butterflies make the predator spit them out.” He explained that in the caterpillar stage itself the toxins from the host plant get into them. It is retained inside the butterfly and it is the presence of these toxins that impart the unpleasant taste. Since every butterfly has their own host plant the characteristics vary.
Butterflies that are distasteful generally have prominent patterns on their wings. This helps the predators to distinguish them from other butterflies that are palatable. In the park, Shetty showed a female Great Eggfly butterfly which is palatable but, is known to uncannily mimic the pattern of toxic butterflies called Crow. This makes the female escape the predators.
During the walk through the park a Malabar Banded Peacock was spotted. Shetty’s excitement then was such that it is simply unexplainable in words. He talked of another special feature about that butterfly species. “The peacock blue colour of its wing is such that it displays two different shades when viewed from different angles.” Shetty's voice showed how amazed he was. He admits that the amazement has never died despite he having already seen the butterfly a lot number of times.
To every visitor in his park which is open to the public on Sunday mornings there is a power point presentation that Shetty gives showing beautiful photographs that he has captured and also videos of life stages of a butterfly, how they are attacked by predators, etc. One such video showed a special case where ants and butterflies shared a symbiotic relation, which is in stark contrast to the normal case. In this video, the ants were seen guarding the caterpillar and pupa of one of the Oakblue butterflies. Shetty explained that this was because the ants got honey dew from the caterpillars in return for the guarding work they do to the initial stages of the butterfly, thus preventing them from being attacked by other insect predators or parasitic wasps. He also said that this symbiotic relationship between ants and butterflies was seen only in lycaenidae family of butterflies.
Shetty chose his park to be an open conservation park where the butterflies have the freedom to fly out and enter the park at their wish. “By planting a lot of host and nectar plants we have given them a very good environment. Why will they not come here or want to go out?” he asks.
Butterfly Man Shetty, who holds an MBA degree in Tourism, is also a lecturer is a college in Mangaluru. But, Shetty is working on something big now and has taken a break from teaching. He is working on a documentary on the life of butterflies which will probably be a first of its kind on Indian butterflies. He ended his presentation by reiterating the causes for the reduction in the population of butterflies, viz., increased use of pesticides, deforestation, forest fires, and overgrazing resulting in habitat loss, and asking the visitors to try and plant at least few nectar and host plants in their home gardens.
(An edited version of this article appeared on The News Minute)
(An edited version of this article appeared on The News Minute)
