First Project Update, 16 Oct 2023

Hello,

Firstly, thanks to everyone for being keenly interested in this project and for uploading your observations to it despite the potential duplicate observation fields, and other hassles. We hope you continue to. When we look at the map below of observations added to the project thus far, we can clearly see that we have only just begun. Also clear is the fact that we need to still add observations from many parts of the country, and observations over different seasons, etc.

Nectar Plants for Lepidoptera Observations

However, we’ve been wanting to follow-up with some initial updates, and to let you know what sort of data we obtain from the project, and to collectively think of how we want to “see” the data. We’re now at a point with more than 1700 observations covering more than 191 species of Lepidoptera, and more than 150 unique genera of plants that they nectar from. Of course, there are some butterflies and moths that are not yet identified down to a species level, likewise for many plants that they visit for nectar. This is still very early in the project, and we have thousands of observations yet to be added to it (as a reference, there are over 550,000 Lepidoptera observations on iNat from the region, and a good percentage of those would have some nectaring behaviour).

Having said that, the data is still complex as it involves several species of butterflies, moths and plants, and it is a challenge to present that data in a simplistic way. Visually pleasing data charts and maps quickly run out of scope when we look at overall data, and only make sense if we consider species level interactions. That may be interesting to see too, and we’ll follow-up with those soon. Here below is a quick look at the top few plant species that are most frequently visited by Lepidoptera species. On the vertical axis is the total number of species of Lepidoptera that have nectared on each genus of plant. Perhaps not surprisingly enough, we have Lantana at the top, and it would be interesting to see if this change as we add more observations from more forested parts of the country.

Further below is a detailed table containing all of the data, with total number of Lepidopteran species per genus or group of plants. There will be some overlaps as some plants are identified further down than others. There are many observations that could use some refined plant identifications, and any help towards that is welcome. This table still gives us a good initial sense of the data output from the project, even if it makes for very painful reading! Please have a look, and add your thoughts and feedback with comments below. Please also let me know (via a personal message) who you think would be interested in the project, and I’ll send them a detailed invite with instructions on how to add observations. Please note that we now have a version of the instructions or key points in Hindi too, if that works better for some of us, thanks to Ram who suggested that we have that. @ram_k :) Thanks also to Gaurav for all his efforts in figuring out the project and working together on this. @gs5

Acmella (1)	Cirsium (3)	Ipomoeeae (1)	Mikania (3)	Solidago (4)
Caleta decidia	Borbo cinnara	Chilades lajus	Acraea terpsicore	Catopsilia pomona
Aeschynomene (1)	Delias eucharis	Ixora (17)	Junonia almana	Junonia iphita
Eurema hecabe	Euploea core	Caltoris	Junonia atlites	Symbrenthia
Allium (1)	Clausena (1)	Catopsilia pomona	Millettia (17)	Vanessa indica
Talicada nyseus	Eretmocera	Euploea core	Borbo cinnara	Spermacoce (4)
Alstonia (1)	Cleome (6)	Gangara thyrsis	Catochrysops strabo	Aeromachus pygmaeus
Hypolimnas bolina	Ampittia dioscorides	Graphium agamemnon	Catopsilia pomona	Oriens goloides
Alternanthera (31)	Appias libythea	Hebomoia glaucippe	Euploea core core	Polyommatina
Aeromachus pygmaeus	Eurema hecabe	Hesperiinae	Hasora chromus	Taractrocera ceramas
Ampittia dioscorides	Gomalia elma	Junonia almana	Hesperiidae	Spermacoceae (3)
Azanus jesous	Luthrodes pandava	Luthrodes pandava	Hydrillodes	Junonia lemonias
Azanus ubaldus	Pareronia hippia	Pachliopta hector	Jamides bochus	Neopithecops zalmora
Castalius rosimon	Clerodendrum (15)	Papilio clytia	Lampides boeticus	Ypthima asterope
Cepora nerissa	Catopsilia pomona	Papilio demoleus	Leptotes plinius	Sphagneticola (34)
Chilades lajus	Danaus genutia	Papilio polymnestor	Pelopidas	Acytolepis puspa
Eretmocera impactella	Eurema hecabe	Papilio polytes	Prosotas dubiosa	Appias albina
Eurema hecabe	Graphium agamemnon	Tagiades litigiosa	Prosotas nora	Baorini
Gomalia elma	Junonia lemonias	Troides minos	Tajuria cippus	Caleta decidia
Graphium doson	Leptosia nina	Vanessa cardui	Talicada nyseus	Castalius rosimon
Junonia almana	Pachliopta aristolochiae	Jacquemontia (1)	Telicota bambusae	Catopsilia pomona
Junonia lemonias	Pachliopta pandiyana	Eurema blanda	Zesius chrysomallus	Chilades lajus
Junonia orithya	Papilio buddha	Jasminum (5)	Mimosa (2)	Colotis amata
Leptosia nina	Papilio clytia	Euploea klugii	Junonia almana	Danaus chrysippus
Luthrodes pandava	Papilio paris	Eurema blanda	Neptis hylas	Danaus genutia
Neptis hylas	Papilio polytes	Junonia iphita	Mimosoideae (1)	Euploea core
Papilio demoleus	Pareronia hippia	Papilio polytes	Azanus ubaldus	Eurema hecabe
Papilio polytes	Tagiades litigiosa	Udaspes folus	Mitracarpus (3)	Hypolimnas bolina
Parnara bada	Troides minos	Jatropha (4)	Catopsilia pyranthe	Hypolimnas misippus
Pseudozizeeria maha	Clitoria (2)	Catopsilia pomona	Spialia galba	Jamides bochus
Spialia galba	Celaenorrhinus ambareesa	Graphium agamemnon	Taractrocera maevius	Jamides celeno
Spoladea recurvalis	Papilio demoleus	Luthrodes pandava	Mitragyna (1)	Junonia almana
Talicada nyseus	Coccinia (2)	Tirumala limniace	Euploea core	Junonia atlites
Taractrocera maevius	Hebomoia glaucippe	Justicia (8)	Momordica (1)	Junonia iphita
Tarucus balkanica	Ixias pyrene	Castalius rosimon	Tirumala limniace	Junonia lemonias
Ypthima huebneri	Combretum (1)	Catopsilia pomona	Moringa (1)	Luthrodes pandava
Zizeeria karsandra	Macroglossum	Eurema brigitta	Chilades lajus	Parantica aglea
Zizina otis	Cosmos (12)	Megisba malaya	Muntingia (4)	Parnara bada
Zizina otis indica	Aethaloessa calidalis	Neopithecops zalmora	Cepora nerissa	Pelopidas
Zizula hylax	Danaus chrysippus	Parantica aglea	Graphium doson	Pelopidas mathias
Alysicarpus (1)	Euploea core	Talicada nyseus	Hasora chromus	Phalanta phalantha
Zizina otis	Graphium agamemnon	Ypthima asterope	Jamides celeno	Sarangesa purendra
Amaranthaceae (1)	Hesperiinae	Kalanchoe (1)	Murdannia (1)	Suastus gremius
Danaus chrysippus	Jamides bochus	Graphium agamemnon	Zizula hylax	Talicada nyseus
Anacardium (1)	Junonia atlites	Kleinia (4)	Murraya (2)	Tarucus
Tajuria cippus	Junonia lemonias	Danaus chrysippus	Cephrenes acalle	Tirumala limniace
Angiospermae (19)	Luthrodes pandava	Euploea core	Graphium doson	Vanessa cardui
Aporia agathon	Phalanta phalantha	Nyctemera coleta	Musaceae (1)	Ypthima huebneri
Cepora nerissa	Pontia edusa	Tirumala limniace	Erionota thrax	Zizula hylax
Danaus chrysippus	Talicada nyseus	Lamiaceae (2)	Mussaenda (2)	Stachytarpheta (35)
Danaus genutia	Crotalaria (4)	Aporia nabellica	Hebomoia glaucippe	Baorini
Delias eucharis	Euchrysops cnejus	Talicada nyseus	Pareronia ceylanica	Baoris farri
Euploea core	Lampides boeticus	Lantana (81)	Neolamarckia (1)	Borbo
Eurema hecabe	Tirumala limniace	Acraea terpsicore	Pelopidas	Catopsilia pomona
Freyeria putli	Tirumala septentrionis	Acytolepis puspa	Nerium (2)	Catopsilia pyranthe
Graphium agamemnon	Croton (1)	Anthene lycaenina	Daphnis nerii	Celaenorrhinus ambareesa
Heliophorus epicles	Spoladea recurvalis	Appias libythea	Eretmocera	Danaus genutia
Iambrix salsala	Cucurbitaceae (4)	Ariadne ariadne	Nyctanthes (1)	Delias eucharis
Lampides boeticus	Baorini	Ariadne merione	Dysphania percota	Euploea core
Papilio clytia	Borbo cinnara	Badamia exclamationis	Ocimum (19)	Euploea klugii
Parantica melaneus	Graphium doson	Baorini	Appias albina	Eurema hecabe
Pieris canidia	Leptotes plinius	Caltoris	Castalius rosimon	Hasora badra
Polyommatini	Cuphea (7)	Caltoris kumara	Catochrysops strabo	Hebomoia glaucippe
Rapala manea	Aeromachus pygmaeus	Catochrysops strabo	Chilades lajus	Hypolimnas bolina
Tirumala limniace	Heliophorus sena	Catopsilia pomona	Chilades parrhasius	Ixias pyrene
Zizina otis	Hymenia perspectalis	Catopsilia pyranthe	Danaus chrysippus	Junonia atlites
Antigonon (2)	Leptosia nina	Cepora nerissa	Danaus genutia	Junonia hierta
Euploea core	Luthrodes pandava	Charaxes solon	Eretmocera	Leptosia nina
Jamides celeno	Talicada nyseus	Chilades parrhasius	Eretmocera impactella	Macroglossum
Arachnothryx (1)	Zizula hylax	Cirrochroa thais	Eurema hecabe	Pachliopta aristolochiae
Pelopidas conjuncta	Cyanthillium (7)	Colotis amata	Graphium agamemnon	Pachliopta hector
Asclepias (2)	Colotis amata	Cupha erymanthis	Jamides bochus	Papilio clytia
Danaus chrysippus	Eurema brigitta	Danaus chrysippus	Junonia atlites	Papilio crino
Danaus genutia	Hesperiinae	Danaus genutia	Leptotes plinius	Papilio demoleus
Aster (1)	Jamides bochus	Delias eucharis	Luthrodes pandava	Papilio polymnestor
Delias eucharis	Luthrodes pandava	Deudorix epijarbas	Pelopidas	Papilio polytes
Asteraceae (24)	Neopithecops zalmora	Euchrysops cnejus	Spoladea recurvalis	Pareronia hippia
Aeromachus pygmaeus	Talicada nyseus	Euploea	Tajuria cippus	Pelopidas
Belenois aurota	Dahlia (4)	Euploea core	Talicada nyseus	Pelopidas agna
Borbo cinnara	Cirrochroa thais	Euploea klugii	Oldenlandia (1)	Tagiades japetus
Caltoris philippina	Danaus chrysippus	Eurema	Zizeeria karsandra	Talicada nyseus
Catopsilia pomona	Pachliopta aristolochiae	Eurema hecabe	Ophiorrhiza (2)	Telicota colon
Cigaritis vulcanus	Papilio clytia	Eurema laeta	Jamides alecto	Tirumala limniace
Colias fieldii	Desmodium (1)	Euthalia aconthea	Oriens goloides	Tirumala septentrionis
Colotis danae	Luthrodes pandava	Gangara thyrsis	Orthosiphon (1)	Udaspes folus
Danaus chrysippus	Dianthus (1)	Graphium agamemnon	Papilio clytia	Strobilanthes (3)
Danaus genutia	Luthrodes pandava	Graphium doson	Parthenium (7)	Chrysodeixis eriosoma
Euploea mulciber	Dicliptera (1)	Graphium teredon	Acraea terpsicore	Macroglossum
Eurema hecabe	Eurema hecabe	Hasora badra	Amata cyssea	Sarangesa purendra
Graphium agamemnon	Duranta (11)	Hasora chromus	Belenois aurota	Synedrella (2)
Hypolimnas misippus	Appias albina	Hypolimnas	Colotis amata	Leptosia nina
Issoria issaea	Appias libythea	Hypolimnas bolina	Lampides boeticus	Luthrodes pandava
Junonia almana	Catochrysops strabo	Hypolimnas misippus	Spialia galba	Tabernaemontana (10)
Junonia atlites	Colotis amata	Ixias marianne	Zizeeria karsandra	Baorini
Junonia hierta	Eurema	Jamides bochus	Passiflora (1)	Gangara thyrsis
Junonia iphita	Eurema hecabe	Junonia almana	Castalius rosimon	Graphium agamemnon
Junonia orithya	Graphium agamemnon	Junonia atlites	Pentas (4)	Junonia atlites
Leptotes plinius	Junonia iphita	Junonia hierta	Catopsilia pomona	Lampides boeticus
Oriens goloides	Leptosia nina	Junonia iphita	Hypolimnas bolina	Luthrodes pandava
Parantica aglea	Leptotes plinius	Junonia lemonias	Ixias pyrene	Papilio demoleus
Taractrocera maevius	Pelopidas	Junonia orithya	Papilio polytes	Parnara bada
Asterales (2)	Eclipta (3)	Lampides boeticus	Persicaria (1)	Rapala manea
Hypolimnas misippus	Luthrodes pandava	Leptosia nina	Parantica sita	Udaspes folus
Junonia iphita	Zizeeria karsandra	Leptotes plinius	Petrea (1)	Tageteae (1)
Asystasia (3)	Zizina otis	Luthrodes pandava	Pareronia hippia	Catopsilia pomona
Celaenorrhinus leucocera	Ecliptinae (4)	Moduza procris	Petunia 1)	Tagetes (12)
Junonia lemonias	Junonia atlites	Nyctemera coleta	Pseudozizeeria maha	Catopsilia pomona
Papilio crino	Luthrodes pandava	Oriens goloides	Phyla (3)	Hypolimnas bolina
Barleria (2)	Pseudozizeeria maha	Pachliopta aristolochiae	Ampittia dioscorides	Junonia atlites
Eurema hecabe	Talicada nyseus	Pachliopta hector	Ampittia dioscorides	Junonia iphita
Pareronia hippia	Ehretia (5)	Pachliopta pandiyana	Chilades lajus	Junonia lemonias
Bidens (7)	Baorini	Papilio clytia	Pithecellobium (1)	Neptis jumbah
Eurema blanda	Eurema hecabe	Papilio demoleus	Prosotas nora	Nyctemera lacticinia
Iambrix salsala	Hasora badra	Papilio polymnestor	Plantae	Papilio buddha
Junonia iphita	Junonia atlites	Papilio polytes	Acraea terpsicore	Parnara
Parantica aglea	Lampides boeticus	Papilionoidea	Appias libythea	Potanthus
Pseudocoladenia dan	Eranthemum (1)	Parantica aglea	Azanus uranus	Tirumala limniace
Taractrocerini	Hebomoia glaucippe	Pareronia hippia	Catopsilia pomona	Tirumala septentrionis
Ypthima baldus	Erigeron (1)	Pelopidas	Cigaritis vulcanus	Tecoma (3)
Boerhavia (1)	Spialia galba	Pelopidas mathias	Coladenia indrani	Gangara thyrsis
Azanus ubaldus	Eupatorieae (7)	Phalanta phalantha	Danaus chrysippus	Rapala manea
Boraginaceae (1)	Baorini	Prosotas dubiosa	Danaus genutia	Troides minos
Junonia almana	Catochrysops strabo	Rapala manea	Delias eucharis	Tephrosia (1)
Bougainvillea (4)	Cyrestis thyodamas	Spilomelinae	Eurema hecabe	Catochrysops strabo
Papilio demoleus	Euploea core	Suastus gremius	Everes lacturnus	Terminalia (1)
Papilio polymnestor	Graphium doson	Telicota	Graphium nomius	Sarbena
Papilio polytes	Leptosia nina	Telicota bambusae	Hasora badra	Tithonia (3)
Pareronia hippia	Rapala manea	Tirumala limniace	Ixias pyrene	Pachliopta aristolochiae
Brassicaceae (1)	Euphorbia (1)	Tirumala septentrionis	Leptosia nina	Papilio polytes
Jamides celeno	Luthrodes pandava	Troides minos	Leptotes plinius	Tirumala limniace
Brunfelsia (1)	Fabaceae (6)	Vagrans	Megisba malaya	Trichodesma (1)
Caprona ransonnettii	Borbo cinnara	Vagrans egista	Pachliopta aristolochiae	Pelopidas
Caesalpinia (15)	Castalius rosimon	Vanessa cardui	Papilio demoleus	Trichosanthes (1)
Castalius rosimon	Euchrysops cnejus	Zizeeria karsandra	Papilio polymnestor	Pareronia hippia
Catopsilia pomona	Jamides celeno	Leea (39)	Parantica aglea	Tridax (28)
Danaus chrysippus	Pelopidas mathias	Acytolepis puspa	Pareronia hippia	Acraea terpsicore
Delias eucharis	Sarangesa dasahara	Appias albina	Prosotas nora	Ampittia dioscorides
Euploea core	Fabales (1)	Arnetta vindhiana	Tajuria cippus	Belenois aurota
Graphium agamemnon	Tirumala septentrionis	Caleta decidia	Tarucus hazara	Castalius rosimon
Junonia almana	Galinsoga (1)	Caprona ransonnettii	Tirumala limniace	Catopsilia pyranthe
Junonia atlites	Pseudozizeeria maha	Castalius rosimon	Tirumala septentrionis	Cepora nerissa
Pachliopta aristolochiae	Gloriosa (2)	Catopsilia pomona	Udaspes folus	Chilades lajus
Pachliopta hector	Catopsilia pyranthe	Catopsilia pyranthe	Zizula hylax	Colotis amata
Papilio demoleus	Pachliopta aristolochiae	Celaenorrhinus leucocera	Pluchea (2)	Danaus chrysippus
Papilio polymnestor	Gomphrena (20)	Cephrenes acalle	Colotis amata	Eretmocera impactella
Papilio polytes	Acraea terpsicore	Cepora nerissa	Tarucus	Euchrysops cnejus
Pareronia hippia	Appias libythea	Cigaritis lohita	Plumbago (1)	Euploea core
Tirumala limniace	Catochrysops strabo	Cigaritis vulcanus	Udaspes folus	Eurema hecabe
Calendula (1)	Catopsilia pomona	Danaus genutia	Poaceae (2)	Eurema laeta
Danaus chrysippus	Chilades lajus	Deudorix epijarbas	Junonia almana	Jamides celeno
Calenduleae (1)	Danaus chrysippus	Eurema hecabe	Tirumala limniace	Junonia almana
Luthrodes pandava	Euchrysops cnejus	Graphium agamemnon	Podranea (1)	Junonia atlites
Calliandra (1)	Eurema blanda	Graphium doson	Gangara thyrsis	Junonia lemonias
Gangara thyrsis	Eurema hecabe	Halpe porus	Premna (1)	Luthrodes pandava
Calotropis (1)	Everes lacturnus	Hasora badra	Graphium agamemnon	Parnara bada
Hasora badra	Jamides celeno	Hypolimnas bolina	Prunus (2)	Talicada nyseus
Calyptocarpus (1)	Junonia atlites	Iambrix salsala	Aglais caschmirensis	Tarucus
Talicada nyseus	Junonia hierta	Ixias pyrene	Pieris canidia	Tarucus nara
Canavalia (1)	Junonia lemonias	Jamides celeno	Pseuderanthemum (8)	Tirumala limniace
Hesperiinae	Leptosia nina	Junonia atlites	Catopsilia pomona	Ypthima huebneri
Carduoideae (18)	Leptotes plinius	Junonia iphita	Catopsilia pyranthe	Zizeeria karsandra
Argynnis childreni	Luthrodes pandava	Junonia lemonias	Eurema hecabe	Zizina otis
Argynnis kamala	Neptis hylas	Leptosia nina	Hasora chromus	Zizula hylax
Aulocera saraswati	Phalanta phalantha	Megisba malaya	Hypolimnas bolina	Trifolium (2)
Aulocera swaha	Tirumala limniace	Nacaduba berenice	Junonia iphita	Aglais caschmirensis
Aulocera swaha garuna	Grona (1)	Neptis hylas	Junonia lemonias	Pieris brassicae
Byasa polyeuctes	Zizina otis	Parnara bada	Parthenos sylvia	Turnera (3)
Callerebia scanda	Hamelia (12)	Pelopidas mathias	Pseudomussaenda (8)	Acraea terpsicore
Celaenorrhinus	Catopsilia pomona	Phalanta phalantha	Catopsilia pomona	Eurema hecabe
Celaenorrhinus leucocera	Danaus chrysippus	Suastus gremius	Colotis amata	Suastus gremius
Colias fieldii	Graphium agamemnon	Talicada nyseus	Euchrysops cnejus	Urena (11)
Euploea mulciber	Graphium doson	Telicota bambusae	Graphium doson	Acraea terpsicore
Gonepteryx nepalensis	Hebomoia glaucippe	Tirumala limniace	Ixias pyrene	Borbo cinnara
Junonia iphita	Ixias pyrene	Udaspes folus	Macroglossum	Catopsilia pyranthe
Parantica sita	Junonia lemonias	Leucas (8)	Papilio polytes	Danaus chrysippus
Pieris brassicae	Miltochrista	Acraea terpsicore	Pelopidas mathias	Euchrysops cnejus
Tirumala septentrionis	Neptis hylas	Catopsilia pyranthe	Raphanus (1)	Pachliopta aristolochiae
Vagrans	Papilio polytes	Cigaritis vulcanus	Tirumala limniace	Parantica aglea
Ypthima	Prosotas nora	Jamides celeno	Ruellia (2)	Pareronia hippia
Cassia (1)	Tirumala septentrionis	Pachliopta hector	Hebomoia glaucippe	Pieris canidia
Catopsilia pomona	Heliotropium (7)	Sarangesa purendra	Zizula hylax	Sarangesa dasahara
Catharanthus (9)	Celaenorrhinus ambareesa	Suastus gremius	Samanea (15)	Tirumala limniace
Baorini	Danaus genutia	Taractrocera ceramas	Appias albina	Vigna (2)
Borbo cinnara	Danaus melanippus	Libidibia (2)	Belenois aurota	Euchrysops cnejus
Catopsilia pomona	Euploea core	Hypolimnas bolina	Catopsilia pomona	Jamides celeno
Delias eucharis	Euploea sylvester	Tirumala limniace	Catopsilia pyranthe	Vinca (2)
Hyarotis adrastus	Tirumala limniace	Ligustrum (1)	Delias eucharis	Papilio demoleus
Papilio clytia	Tirumala septentrionis	Jamides alecto	Graphium agamemnon	Polytremis lubricans
Papilio demoleus	Hellenia (3)	Lippia (1)	Graphium doson	Vitex (4)
Papilio polytes	Euploea core	Danaus chrysippus	Hebomoia glaucippe	Badamia exclamationis
Pareronia hippia	Rathinda amor	Luffa (5)	Hypolimnas bolina	Delias eucharis
Catunaregam (1)	Udaspes folus	Hasora badra	Hypolimnas misippus	Graphium doson
Phalanta phalantha	Hibiscus (10)	Hypolimnas bolina	Junonia iphita	Tirumala limniace
Causonis (1)	Gangara thyrsis	Parnara	Junonia lemonias	Waltheria (1)
Junonia atlites	Hebomoia glaucippe	Parnara bada	Neptis jumbah	Junonia hierta
Celosia (14)	Notocrypta curvifascia	Pelopidas mathias	Papilio demoleus	Zinnia (9)
Danaus chrysippus	Papilio buddha	Malachra (3)	Papilio polytes	Acraea terpsicore
Danaus genutia	Papilio clytia	Acraea terpsicore	Scoparia (1)	Appias albina
Delias eucharis	Papilio demoleus	Junonia atlites	Chilades lajus	Catopsilia pomona
Euploea core	Papilio paris	Spoladea recurvalis	Senegalia (2)	Catopsilia pyranthe
Euploea klugii	Papilio polymnestor	Malvaceae (6)	Azanus ubaldus	Delias eucharis
Eurema brigitta	Papilio polytes	Catopsilia pomona	Colotis phisadia	Eurema blanda
Eurema hecabe	Pareronia hippia	Danaus chrysippus	Senna (1)	Hypolimnas bolina
Junonia almana	Hyptis (1)	Hypolimnas bolina	Azanus ubaldus	Junonia iphita
Junonia iphita	Euchrysops cnejus	Pareronia hippia	Sesamum (2)	Pachliopta aristolochiae
Junonia lemonias	Impatiens (7)	Suastus gremius	Pareronia hippia	Ziziphus (4)
Phalanta phalantha	Eurema hecabe	Tirumala limniace	Vanessa cardui	Delias eucharis
Sarangesa purendra	Hebomoia glaucippe	Mecardonia (1)	Sesbania (1)	Hypolimnas misippus
Tarucus	Jamides alecto	Euchrysops cnejus	Eurema hecabe	Junonia almana
Tirumala limniace	Papilio polymnestor	Melochia (1)	Sida (7)	Junonia lemonias
Chassalia (1)	Papilio polytes	Parnara	Arnetta vindhiana
Graphium agamemnon	Parantica aglea	Merremia (4)	Danaus genutia
Chromolaena (5)	Potanthus	Delias eucharis	Eurema hecabe
Asota sericea	Indigofera (2)	Eurema hecabe	Jamides celeno
Cigaritis vulcanus	Freyeria putli	Junonia atlites	Junonia atlites
Danaus genutia	Leptotes plinius	Tirumala limniace	Spoladea recurvalis
Euchromia polymena	Ipomoea (2)	Mesosphaerum (3)	Zizula hylax
Euploea core	Luthrodes pandava	Belenois aurota	Smithia (1)
Chrozophora (1)	Udaspes folus	Danaus genutia	Zizeeria karsandra
Appias libythea		Eurema brigitta

@abhinavnair @adithyan_a_saj @adityaramakrishnan13 @afsarnayakkan @ajaylives @anil_kumar_verma @anilamanalil @anubhav-agarwal @arnabkumarsamanta @azhagu @bhagwatn @birderbaba @bonpradhan @chayantgonsalves @chiefredearth @csbandi @debashischowdhury @deepachandran @dhyey13 @dineshvalke @drpadhiyar @elavarasan_mm @firos_ak @gs5 @haneesh @hopeland @ivijayanand @jayarakesh @kiran12 @kishorenath @kristofz @kunikimu @lakshmi_ashokkumar @manaswini @mohitpatel845 @mohua @nandansreejith-snowshark182-india @nathasha_kv @navaneethsinigeorge @nomadash @odonut @omkarsd @pcbose @po-po-pro @quailboy @ram_k @rujutavinod @sagarika_chen @samarth_jain @samartha-sg @samrudhnandagopal @shiwalee @siddarthmachado @sindhuharidas @smkbhatt @sonukumar055 @subhajit_roy @sumit_joshi @swanand @swatiudayraj @tejasm_07 @umavaijnath @vaishnavkv @veenas @vivek32 @zankarshah

Please forgive the tag/notification. We realised not everyone gets notified when there is a journal post, and we didn't want you to miss out on the content as well as any interesting exchanges in the comments below.

Posted on October 16, 2023 08:58 AM by

karthik_83

Comments

Nice

Posted by ram_k 7 months ago

Wow! great work!

Posted by swanand 7 months ago

Thank you, Ram, Swanand.

Posted by karthik_83 7 months ago

Great work. Hope this community can slowly develop a reliable database for the butterfly-plant interactions.

Posted by haneesh 7 months ago

a good start.
One must remember that Lantana is a non-native seriously invasive plant species.. Would it be possible to (a) mark non native plants species and (b) suggest alternative native plant species that can be used to replace Lantana where it gets the correct conservation treatment (total removal)

Posted by hkmoths 7 months ago

@hkmoths Thank you, and true. We do plan to include some sort of labelling (colour coding, maybe) in the next update for native and non-native plants. Gathering that information currently. Perhaps we can do something specifically for those classified as 'invasive' such as Lantana?
@siddarthmachado @shiwalee @dineshvalke @aditya_gadkari Please pitch in with your thoughts/ideas. Would this be feasible as many plant species are also considered 'naturalised'? Or should we tag them separately?

@haneesh Thank you.

worth putting info on which non natives are seriously invasive species (like Lantana) or non-invasive (like Duranta erecta)

Lantana makes the Worlds Worst 100 Invasive Species (all taxa, not just plants) - http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/100_worst.php

@karthik_83 ... I find there is an observation field that can be added "Native, Introduced or Invasive".

Posted by dineshvalke 7 months ago

@dineshvalke - use with care - one must remember that the nectar source is not the subject of the observation in a photo. Thus a second observation of the same photo with the id as the nectar source should be used, and then one can apply the relevant status to the obseration field, for the nectar source.
Of course, if the Lepidopera is non-native, then apply the observation field for the non-native Lepidoptera observation!
😉

Agreed. Unless there is a separate observation for the plant itself, that observation field would not serve the purpose. I think working with the dataset in the background, and including that information here in some easy-to-use way, may be more viable.

Thank you.

Posted by chiefredearth 7 months ago

@hkmoths ... oh yes! I got carried away. I hope there must be some other way of capturing the status of nectar source.

I hope this data can be used to recommend butterfly supporting nectaring plants for urban garden planners

Posted by csbandi 7 months ago

Guess there are many non- native / invasive weeds in the list.. Lantana, sphagneticola
alternanthera etc And butterflies seem to love them. It would be interesting to reverse tabulate by lepidopteran species to plants.. a kind of stacked / grouped bar graph that shows the relative love of each lepidopterian group to each plant group.. which may help urban gardeners decide if they can do away with some of these non native/ invasives.

Posted by veenas 7 months ago

Also many non native plants get naturalized and some then turn invasive.. not sure if there is a well defined way to classify/ distinguish all these plants ?

Hi Veena, that's a good idea, and we'll follow up with that kind of plots/graphs in the next update (every species of Lepidoptera mapped to every species of plant). It's a lot of data, but we can think of ways to present that easily. @veenas
We found some publications of 'Introduced' plants that have data on which species are 'Naturalized' and 'Introduced and Invasive'. (one set here: https://figshare.com/s/ce07ef7a9a19768d8f5e).
We're working on that data against the plant species in the project. As you can imagine, many of the plant IDs here are not at the species level. There are some plants that we can label even at genus or a higher taxon level, and others we can't. We plan to follow up soon.
With this information, we should have something towards what Chandu @csbandi hoped for as well.
@gs5

Thanks Karthik. Its a lot of data needed and a lot of work as well I suppose. The Plant database is interesting too, thanks for sharing.

Incredible! Happy that this is bearing fruit / nectar ;)

Posted by chayantgonsalves 7 months ago

;)

First Project Update, 16 Oct 2023

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