Of 337 butterfly species found in Western Ghats, 40 endemic

AS many as 337 butterfly species have been identified in the Western Ghats in a two-decade long survey conducted by two researchers-Dr Kalesh Sadasivan and Ashok Sengupta.

- S SENTHIL KUMAR

Out of these, 40 species were found to be endemic and 22 on the IUCN Red List, of which two are near threatened and the rest are in the least concern category.

Kalesh Sadasivan, a research associate and founder member of Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS) and member of the State Board for Wildlife, Kerala and Ashok Sengupta, a naturalist school teacher and member of Bengaluru Butterfly Club (BBC), carried out the study based on their two-decades-old research and dozens of publications and research journals.