A Flash of Blue

A kilometre away from our tea shop is the devrai, the “forest of the god”, an inner zone of dense forests within Tamhini, protected by nearby villagers who consider it the source of their well-being. Hunting animals and cutting trees are strictly prohibited in this “sacred” grove. Devrais are found across the Western Ghats.

The Tamhini sanctuary is home to over 25 species of mammals, including the giant squirrel, locally called shekru, leopard and barking deer (bhekar); 150 species of birds and at least over 70 butterflies, according to the forest department.

The butterfly is found in moist forests, near streams and along forest paths

As we walk deeper into the jungle, past lush-green plots of paddy seedlings, Kulkarni tells me more about the creature we are looking for. “Blue Mormon is endemic to India, specially the Western Ghats, and Sri Lanka. It is not seen elsewhere in the world. All butterflies have host plants, and for the Mormons, it is the citrus family. It is a large-bodied butterfly, one of the biggest in India. It can be as big as my palm,” he says.

The butterfly is spotted in evergreen and moist deciduous forests as well as in hilly patches in urban areas. They are found a lot near forest paths and around streams. The male and female of the species are very similar, but sometimes there are crimson spots on the forewing of the female.

I interrupt Kulkarni as I spy a sudden flutter on a tree, but his eyes are not to be deceived. That, he says, is a Red Helen — another butterfly with an interesting name. “Another type of butterfly, the Common Mormon (Papilio polytes), was named after the Mormon sect mainly because of its polygamous behaviour. The Papilio polymnestor, its blue counterpart, is called the Blue Mormon,” says Kulkarni.

It is now over two hours since we started our climb. The heavy drizzle has turned into a downpour, and Kulkarni suggests that we ought not venture any further. Disappointed and reluctant, I head back. The only solace is in the incredible beauty of the untouched forests that surround us, sustained by the faith of the villagers.

Kulkarni and other conservationists are not too hopeful that this will last. Already, illegal construction and excavations in and around Tamhini threaten this fragility. At stake is the survival of all forms of life. As prey for birds, bats and many insectivorous creatures, butterflies are a vital part of this food web. “Even in its other stages, as egg, larva and pupa, it serves as food for other creatures. Its love for nectar makes it a key pollinator. Each variety of butterfly prefers a particular plant species to grow and feed on, and their existence is linked to tree diversity,” says Dharmaraj Patil, a wildlife and ecology researcher in Pune.

Though the Blue Mormon is not an endangered species, there are visible threats to the entire butterfly population — decreasing forest cover and a fall in the number of specific host plants. A peculiar habit of butterflies is mud-puddling, where they suck fluids from the soil to get nutrients. High level of fertilisers or toxic pollutants in the soil, therefore, are a threat to their lives, says Kulkarni.

All this, of course, does not explain why the government of Maharashtra decided one fine day to confer this honour on the Blue Mormon. Madhav Gadgil, veteran ecologist and former head of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel, calls it nothing less than a farce. “The giant squirrel was declared the state animal of Maharashtra. But what is happening to its key habitats? Corrupt officials in collusion with private companies have destroyed the habitat at Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary by setting up a windmill farm. Instead of these symbolic moves, we need concrete steps towards conservation.”
On our way downhill, Kulkarni and I mull these questions, as we take in our verdant surroundings. “No one really knows whether a flutter of butterfly in one corner of the world can cause an hurricane at the other end, as the chaos theory says. But a healthy butterfly population has a direct effect on our ecosystems, and in turn, our lives,” he says.

As we enter a dense path, Kulkarni stops and points to the right. And there it is — on a small tree, a Blue Mormon male, with signature pale blue colours on dark black. Kulkarni manages to take a couple of photographs, but by the time I take out my camera, it has flown up and away.