August 2022

Congratulations @itsamantis! Observation of the Joker butterfly within the city borders is the 'Butterfly Observation of the month for the Pune district'!
(Butterfly Observation of the Month: August 2022.).
Many group members appreciated this observation. It is an important observation considering that the Joker butterfly is a pure grassland butterfly. Hence, it is very rear in the city. @itsamantis observed it in the Hadpser region, noting that it is near the Saswad grassland. Previously, Jocker was documented on the inaturalist only once within the city limit at ARAI hills in 2015 (@pavandamoor 's observation). All other Joker observations are near Mayureshwer Sanctuary and the Saswad grassland region.
Discussing Grasslands, Bhigwan is another less-explored grassland for butterflies in the Pune district.@gaurikarlekar observed the unique courtship behavior of plain tiger butterflies in the Bhigawan grassland. It's interesting as the image shows around five males chasing a single female butterfly. The female is clearly showing rejection by pointing the abdomen upward. @gaurikarlekar also observed the mating pair of common leopards mobbed by other butterflies same species. @jayantdeshpande also observed the Agonistic mating behavior of the Red Pierrot butterfly in his terrace garden. @himanshupandav also observed the mating pair of the Red Pierrot butterfly in his garden. he also observed the mating pair of Tamil Grass Dart. @pashu4you observed the mating pair of ring butterfly. @mandarn observed the mating pair of Chestnut Bob. @suraj38 observed the mating pair of Common Gull in Pisaware village. @naturalist52570 observed courtship behavior of the African Babul Blue. So many courtships and mating Observations!
These results in life cycle observations as well! For example, multiple egglaying and caterpillar-observations of Red Pierrot butterflies. Egg laying of Tiger mimicking danaid Eggfly, Angled Pierrot, tawny coster, and so on...
Another interesting thing to note is that many observations of butterflies nectroring on the Justica plant.
To conclude, August is a starting season for Joker, and one can expect an increase in the life cycle and courtship observations. In August 2022, butterfly activity increased the number of observations(289) and species(88) compared to July 2022. Even the diverse area covered in the Month.

@pavandamoor is back on the leaderboard and is at the top with 70+ observations. @bhagwatn is in second place with 45 observations, and @itsamantis is in third place with 35 observations.

Happy Butterflying!

Posted on February 1, 2023 05:12 AM by swanand