It seemed like the
other day when Hudhud created a flutter. The fury of the cyclone laid waste veteran
trees in its wake and took its toll on birds; the butterflies simply stood no
chance. Birds made a modest comeback even before the natural ecology of Dolphin Hill limped back to life-as-usual. Summer has been unbearably harsh, but Nature’s
resilience is such that scrubland and woods have rejuvenated on their own
steam. Few showers of Vizag’s monsoon have helped the ‘weed’ understory flourish.
Now nine months on, something else is creating a flutter. The hillside is
trembling excitedly to the rhythm of butterflies once again. They have been tardy
in returning, but they are back for sure.
The much-derided lantana camara – the ‘untouchable’ among
plant kingdom, has come to the rescue. Sitting on the patio, I had been witness
to few swallowtails, which were once the pride of this place, flitting over
verge and low trees. Common Rose and Crimson Rose, particularly attracted
attention as they doubled in size mating mid-air! The general buzz of these
bugs was tantalizing, so this Sunday morning I decided to give in. In
my part of the woods, where ‘weeds’ have been allowed to grow, I counted nearly
20 species of butterflies in as many minutes on a 50-metre trail by the fence. Armed
with my new DSLR and a macro telephoto lens, I set out on a chase.
Most species give you
the slip as they flit from flower to wildflower. Some like this tailless
swallowtail – the Lime butterfly – that I went after, flap constantly proving
elusive. Others like albatross and emigrants are difficult to pin down
frolicking as they are, usually, in twos and threes. Tawny coasters and grass
yellows were gliding energetically by a carpet of ‘coat button’ daisies (Tridax procumbens or ‘Ravana-heads’ of
our childhood) and Crotalaria. I did
arrest the slow flight of a tawny coaster and was surprised to see that it had
an oily sheen to its wings. Thankfully, the common leopard and lemon pansy
posed as they did surya namaskar
(they love to sun-bathe with wings wide open) first thing in the morning.
The Calotropis procera or the Sodom’s apple that
grows invasive by the roadside is considered an outcast, but it is another
great butterfly magnet. Its bouquet of mauve flowers provides food for variety
of butterflies from tigers to pansies and the waxy leaves are a great host for
caterpillars.
In all that drama,
there was also the side-show. There were caterpillars—that would metamorphose
into butterflies, feeding on plants. Crickets leapt out of thickets making me
jump. Bugs made my skin crawl. Common Indian Chameleons basked in the sun, lazily,
watching me with a curious eye, wondering at my whimsy.
This is backyard biodiversity at its best. Such macro-life can thrive only in ‘hospitable’
conditions that may seem ‘inhospitable’ for us. Most of us think that
landscaping, trimmed trees, and regimented rows of pruned foliage with big,
bright flowers constitute ‘natural beauty’. That unwieldy grass or scrub with
dried twigs is sight for sore eyes. How many of us know that the so-called
‘weeds’ are but wildflowers with medicinal and commercial value to mankind? It
is this higgledy-piggledy wasteland we so despise that is the actual breeding
ground for bugs, bees, butterflies and birds that constitute the web of life. It
is not my contention that, therefore, we encourage indiscriminate growth of
invasive weeds. Under controlled conditions, natural vegetation can be co-opted
into ‘tree plantation’ and ‘greening’ schemes to help restore soil and micro-climate.
Even as we create artificial oases, we must strive to preserve wild pockets.
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| Lemon pansies feeding on Sodom's apple shrub |
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| Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus) |
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| Dark Glassy Tiger |
