The One-spot Grass Yellow (Eurema andersoni) butterfly has been sighted in the State after a gap of more than 100 years. The butterfly was recorded in the Almora district as part of the survey on present status of butterflies in Kumaon directed by chief conservator of forests, Kumaon, Param Jit Singh. According to Singh, the sighting of this butterfly is a sign of the good health of the ecology in the region.
It has also substantiated the need for study and data collection on butterflies. Such discoveries also raise awareness among locals about the need for wildlife conservation at their level too, he said.
Statistical officer in the CCF Kumaon office, Shankar Kumar who conducted the survey in various parts of Kumaon analysed a photograph of a butterfly and realised that he got some captures of a species which was identified by experts as one-spot Grass Yellow. This is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, which is found in India from Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of Asia. In Uttarakhand a single specimen was recorded in Mussoorie, Garhwal in 1899.
It is the first time that a live specimen of this butterfly was recorded after a long time in Uttarakhand. According to Kumar he captured the photographs of this butterfly in Jageshwar range of Almora district on April 11. Along with Kumar, wildlife biologist Vipul Maurya and Pramod Kumar also assisted in this project.