These gorgeous tiny little creatures have been my photography muse in the past one year, which has made me go on the lookout for as many different species of them as possible in their natural habitat. I have also been trying to capture their different behaviors in the wild. Every time I go photographing butterflies, I go walking around lakes, nature parks or on hill tops (places where there are a lot of native flowering plants), trying to find a spot that is of interest to the butterflies in that area. Once I've picked a spot, I try to be as still as possible until they get accustomed to my presence before I could finally get to click the shots.
With more than 1300 species of butterflies in India alone, they are always a delight to watch for people of any age. Their vivid wing coloration and fluttering flight path lend a special touch of beauty to nature. However, butterflies do more than just paint a pretty picture!
A Small Grass Yellow Butterfly, seen pollinating on one of the many wild flowers.
The Pollinators - The major role of butterflies in the ecosystem is that of pollination and are also called the wild indicators of an ecosystem. They play an important role in increasing biodiversity – the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms and their ecosystems. Pollination being an essential ecological survival function, without pollinators the human race and all of earth’s terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Pollinators are key to reproduction of wild plants. Without them, existing populations of plants would decline, even if soil, air, nutrients, and other life-sustaining elements were available. Approximately one-third of all plants need pollination to set fruit, and bees and butterflies are major pollinators. Flower nectar is the major food source for adult butterflies and by flying from flower to flower, sipping nectar, pollination occurs. Visits from pollinators also result in larger, more flavorful fruits and higher crop yields. Pollinators like butterflies thereby also provide other environmental benefits such as clean air and prevention of soil erosion through the roots of flowering plants.
A Forget-Me-Not Butterfly, found basking in the morning sun the day after rain.
Basking Behavior - Butterflies being cold-blooded (technically of blue blood), can only feed or fly when their bodies are warmed up to a tropical 30 degrees. They are often seen basking with their wings wide open and adjust the angle accordingly to expose as much of the wing to sunlight as possible – similarly to a solar panel. I could witness this very behavior when my own shadow blocked the direct sunlight for a second or so and thereafter I was more careful not to bother the basking beauty while I took the shot.
A Butterfly has four wings (two pairs) and six legs attached to its thorax. They can fly to a maximum speed of 50 km/hr.
A Monarch Butterfly in flight and feeding on nectar
A Forget-Me-Not Butterfly, feeding on nectar from a wild flower.
Feeding Behavior - Butterflies spend about 50% of their time looking for food. Their source of food is exclusively liquid and they taste their food using their feet as a sensory organ. The proboscis (a straw like, tubular sucking organ that can be seen in the picture), enables butterflies to drink nectar or some other variation of liquid sustenance. The proboscis is curled up when not in use. They sip water from damp patches for hydration and feed on nectar from flowers. They are generally associated with flowers because they need the high energy from nectar which is mostly sugar.
Flowers make up the bulk of their diet but, not all butterflies are attracted solely to flower nectar; some readily partake of liquid from sources such as tree sap, honeydew, over ripe or rotting fruit.
Common Five-ring Butterfly
A Male Pioneer White Butterfly, found mud-puddling from a damp patch of soil on a sunny afternoon.
Mud Puddling Behavior - Butterflies get most of their nutrition from flower nectar. Though rich in sugar, nectar lacks some important nutrients the butterflies need for reproduction. For those, butterflies visit puddles and they generally prefer forested water bodies which are free from human disturbances. Puddling is a behavior most conspicuous in butterflies, but occurs in other animals as well, mainly insects; they seek out nutrients in certain moist substances such as rotting plant matter, mud and carrion and they suck up the fluid. In tropical India this phenomenon is mostly seen in the post-monsoon season. It is learnt that butterflies, mostly the male uptake the sodium and other minerals through mud-puddling behavior vital for reproductive success. While mineral-rich mud is a common source for sodium-seeking butterflies, they can also procure salt from animal dung, urine, and sweat, as well as from carcasses.
A Red Pierrot Butterfly, feeding on nectar in my home garden.
Conservation - The greatest threats to butterflies have been habitat loss due to residential, commercial, agricultural development and also heightened use of chemical fertilizers. For butterfly conservation in urban or suburban regions, we can maintain home gardens or community parks with native plants that attract butterflies.
Also, it was only recently that I learnt that butterflies in their adult stage can live from a week to nearly an year depending on the species.
Amazed by this beautiful creation of nature and being well aware of their importance in an ecosystem, I am more invested in gardening nowadays than ever before to attract butterflies and other pollinators with some juicy nectar in the sub-urban surroundings where I live. After all, happiness is seeing a butterfly on the flower that you planted. :)
A Forget-Me-Not Butterfly
