[Movie File] Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii)

▲Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii) resting on the leaf

(Chin, Myanmar Sep. 2002 Photo by TS)

[Movie File] Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii)　

   Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis lidderdalii) is the world famous swallowtail for its bizarre and graceful appearance. It ranges from Bhutan, NW India, Myanmar to S China. The population in Thailand (ssp. ocellatomaculata ) is said to have gone extinct in early 80's. Ludlow's Bhutan Glory (Bhutanitis ludlowi) which is known only from E. Bhutan is a distinct species. Our society had the joint research work on this species in 2011 and unveiled its morphology and biology. （See Butterflies No.60）

   This butterfly appears once in a year after the monsoon. September is the best season to observe this butterfly in most area. This butterfly has a quite odd biology because it is more active in foggy and rainy day. No other butterfly likes to fly in such unpleasant weather. This video was filmed in Chin state, western Myanmar in 2005. I have never seen any video of this butterfly (though some photos are found on the Internet), so I decided to share it. Sorry for the low quality of the video.

  (Chin state, W MYANMAR Oct. 2005)

[Movie File] Expedition to W. Myanmar

Movie File: Expedition to W. Myanmar

▲Location of Chin state, western Myanmar （after Wikipedia）

   Mr. S who is one of the leading figures in our society provided us very precious video. He has been earnestly studying the butterfly fauna of Myanmar for more than 15 years. Last June he visited Chin state, western Myanmar. Chin state is located in the border area just next to India. Most of the state is occupied with mountains called Chin Hill. Chin state is also famous as the battle field during WWII. The record of butterfly fauna in this area is quite scarce, only some old literatures such as Watson (Brithsh Army and posted in this area during the service) are available.

   Recently Mr. S has visited there several times and achieved many interesting findings. Among them, the discovery of a striking new Genus of Zephyrus Hairstreak (Genus Shizuyaozephyrus) is notable. Unfortunately this visit was not so much successful because of the heavy rain and bad road condition. In this video some common butterflies are fimed. The details should be reported by Mr. S himself in the future.