Tripura records rare butterfly species for first time in Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary

Tripura recorded the presence of its first Banded Royal butterfly, scientifically named Rachana jalindra indra, in the Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary.

Speaking to India Today NE, researcher Suman Bhowmik, one of the four researchers involved in this study — along with Chiranjib Debnath, Rupali Biswas, and Animesh Das — confirmed that the butterfly was first observed on May 5, 2021, during an opportunistic survey in the sanctuary.

He said that the species of butterfly is legally protected under Schedule II of the Indian Wildlife (Protected) Act, 1972.

The research was published on January 1, 2025, in Munis Entomology & Zoology, a peer-reviewed, biannual international journal of entomology and zoology.

Munis Entomology & Zoology publishes a wide variety of papers on all aspects of Entomology and Zoology from all of the World, including mainly studies on systematics, taxonomy, nomenclature, fauna, biogeography, biodiversity, ecology, morphology, behavior, conservation, paleobiology and others.

According to Suman, the major work on butterfly fauna of Tripura which was earlier by several researches and authors, none of these authors have recorded Rachana jalindra from the state.

“There are three subspecies of Rachana jalindra found in India including macantia distributed from south-west India to Goa; R. j. tarpina distributed in the Andamans and R. j. indra distributed from Orissa to lower West Bengal and Bangladesh. Presently the subspecies R. j. indra is recorded from Assam, Meghalaya and Jharkhand”, he said.

Speaking about the materials and methods, he said that during an opportunistic survey in Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary on May 20, 2021, one of the authors sighted a Lycaenid butterfly busking on bushes along a forest track. 

“He managed to take a single photograph of the butterfly before it finally escapes into the vegetations inside Sepahijala Botanical Garden. The identification of the species as Rachana jalindra indra was done by cross checking the documented photograph with the available taxonomic literature. This species is legally protected under schedule II of the Indian Wildlife (Protected) Act, 1972 (Anonymous, 1997)”, he told this publication.

He said that Rachana jalindra can be identified by the white underside with a broad chocolate discal band on forewing. 

“The white diffused area beyond the discal band on the forewing is more extensive. The wavy line above tornus on the underside hindwing is quite separated from the tornal markings. Under hindwing tornal green scales more prominent. This species is most similar to Charana mandarinus but the later can be differentiate, with its yellowish underside and the discal band on forewing being ferruginous brown, confluent with paler ferruginous brown marginal area unlike Rachana jalindra. In addition, the tails in Charana mandarinus are doubled (12 mm) the size as in Rachana jalindra (6 mm)”, he said.