In news: A paintbrush swift butterfly is photographed for the first time in Himachal Pradesh.
- A species of butterfly that is rare in the western Himalayas, the paintbrush swift butterfly, has been photographed and documented for the first time in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district.
- The state supports around 430 butterfly species, or about 25% of the total number of butterfly species found in India.
- The paintbrush swift (Baoris farri), a butterfly species of the Hesperiidae family, was sighted and photographed in the second week of October 2023 during a field survey conducted under the Wild Bhattiyat Project initiated by the Bhattiyat Forest Range of the Dalhousie Forest Division of the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department in 2022.
- The species has never been photographed in Himachal Pradesh since its discovery in 1878. This is the first time that we have photographed and documented it. It was first described by lepidopterist Frederic Moore, more than 145 years ago, from the eastern Himalayas,” Range Forest Officer at the Bhattiyat Forest Range, who is leading the project, told The Hindu.
- The paintbrush swift has been sighted and photographed for the first time in the lower hills of the Dhauladhar mountain range. We are hopeful of finding more rare butterfly species in the region in the coming days. The paintbrush swift’s habitat distribution is common in northeast, central, and south India and rare in Uttarakhand.
- This is the first time the paintbrush swift has been spotted and photographed in Himachal Pradesh. It’s an encouraging indication of flourishing biodiversity.