Arunachal: Six New Butterfly Species Reported from Simong Forest
Researchers from ATREE and Litin Community Conservation Society document six butterfly species previously unrecorded in India from Simong Community Forest, Upper Siang.
UPPER SIANG- In a major scientific breakthrough, six butterfly species previously unknown to India have been recorded from the Simong Community Forest in Upper Siang district. The discovery was made by researchers from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, in collaboration with the Litin Community Conservation Society, Simong village.
The findings, published in the latest issue of Entomon, mark a significant addition to India’s butterfly fauna and further cement the Siang Valley’s reputation as a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas.
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The study—authored by Monsoon Jyoti Gogoi, Rajkamal Goswami, Seena Narayanan Karimbumkara, and Agur Litin—was based on photographic and field documentation from community-conserved forests. The fieldwork was conducted in 2024 under ATREE’s Siang Valley Biodiversity Conservation Programme, led by Agur Litin, a local conservationist from the Litin clan.
The newly recorded butterfly species include:
- Litin Onyx (Horaga takanamii)
- Narrow-banded Royal (Dacalana vui)
- Tibetan Duke (Euthalia zhaxidunzhui)
- Tibetan Sergeant (Athyma yui)
- Tibetan Junglequeen (Stichophthalma neumogeni renqingduojiei)
- Mountain Columbine (Stiboges elodinia)
Previously, these species were known only from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and southeastern Tibet. Their appearance in Arunachal Pradesh extends their known range and highlights the biogeographic continuity between India’s Siang Valley and Tibet’s Metok region, both linked by the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) River.
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The study states, “The Brahmaputra River appears to play a critical biogeographic role, facilitating faunal continuity between southeastern Tibet and eastern Arunachal Pradesh.”
During just a seven-day survey, the team recorded 90 butterfly species, revealing how much of the Eastern Himalayas’ biodiversity remains undocumented. The authors note, “The documentation of six previously unrecorded species within a short one-month survey underscores the striking lack of Lepidopteran surveys and conservation attention in the Indian Eastern Himalayas.”
This discovery not only expands India’s natural history but also underscores the vital role of local communities, such as the Litin clan of Simong, in protecting some of the last remaining wild landscapes of the region.
