Monday, 12 November 2018

Pagoda flower attracts a variety .of butterflies

Rajendra P Kerkar


The autumn is the most favourable season where the nature lovers can enjoy beautiful sight of a variety of butterflies attracted on the Pagoda flowers in Goa.


The Pagoda flowers known as Hanuman kireetam in the Hindi and Turra in Marathi is Clerodendrum paniculatum. It has tall, pyramidal inflorescences. In warm, humid climate it produces large inflorescences nearly all year round. A flower cluster of this plant can have hundreds of flowers and that is why butterflies are attracted to it.


Though it is the most favourite flower for swallowtail butterflies, other species love to enjoy on it. Butterflies are the main pollinators of these flowers and they extend their long, thin proboscides into the flower tubes during which process pollen sticks to their bodies from the long exerted stamens.





In Derode of Sattari, mostly in the morning one can see blue Mormon since the monsoon on the Pagoda flowers. Seen on wet mud, at times on animal droppings, it is seen mostly on the wing where Pagoda flowers are there along with other species of butterflies.


Saljini, a village nestled in the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary has an area where these plants are found in a large shrub. When it has flowers in terminal pyramidal panicles, it attracts during the autumn season the Southern Birdwing, the endemic butterfly to Western Ghats. Active during early morning, and fly above tree tops. It comes down to feed on these flowers.

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