The complexities of being a butterfly

Kshanika Goonesekera

The simplest organism is most often the most stable in this world of ever changing environments. Call it climate change, global warming or just another natural phenomenon, we as complex organisms are the most unyielding creatures and find these changes intolerable and terrifying. Try as we might to adapt, so far we have been quite unsuccessful but never let it be known that we do not make every effort to comply with nature's commands. Sometimes it is to stubbornly ignore the information around us but never-the-less we observe and diligently record everything that transpires.

Butterflies have followed us through myths/legends and have been recognized as ambassadors of nature. Pollinators, indicators of pollution, there are a remarkable diversity of species found throughout the world. Until recently our island was thought to boast 243 species which today, as stated in the 2012 National Red List, has risen to 245 species with 26 of them being endemic. We possess species from all five butterfly families within the super family Papilionoidae as well as super family Hesperoidae previously not considered true butterflies.

Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae and Satyrinae

Their magnificent colours, large and small, have no doubt been captured by many a camera may it be during a holiday expedition or in the privacy of your back garden; but what of them? What do we actually know about butterflies except that they are one of the prettiest insects?

A research project is underway in an endeavour to investigate the seasonal variation observed as dry and wet seasonal forms among three genera of local butterflies categorized to the families Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae and sub-family Satyrinae. The projected aided by the National Research Council, Sri Lanka (NRC) involves a search for eleven species of butterflies throughout the island in order to have a comprehensive look at the morphological variations reported by past naturalists and lepidopterists both local and foreign. The data gathered will aid a genetic analysis performed to determine such attributes as evolutionary patterns, radiation and diversification, taxanomic status etc.

Many international studies have been conducted on similar lines mostly on the sub-family Satyrinae, where the seasonal variations have been scrutinized going as far as to analyze their evolutionary history and geographic radiations. The species included in these studies, though present in Sri Lanka with several endemics, were from India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand and Indonesia extending to Australia excluding Sri Lanka!

Such an investigation of local populations in relation to their international counterparts would have enlightened our scientists on many vital avenues of research. It is a pity that we and our bounty of diverse species are regularly excluded thus, partly due to the stringent laws governing the protection of our flora and fauna from miscreants but also party because we lack the molecular data international studies require.

To be continued