News Highlights:
- A group of lepidopterists has discovered a butterfly subspecies from the fringes of Akkulam and Vembanad lakes in Kerala.
- A lepidopterist is an entomologist who specialises in studying butterflies and moths.
New butterfly:
- About:
- Caltoris bromus sadasiva is the first Bromus swift butterfly to be documented in the Western Ghats.
- The species Bromus swift (Caltoris Bromus), is a skipper butterfly belonging to the Hesperiidae family of Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies), from the Western Ghats and Peninsular India.
- Caltoris genus:
- Caltoris is an Indo-Australian genus that has over 15 species distributed across southeast Asia.
- Caltoris Bromus is one of them and has two other subspecies Caltoris bromus bromus and Caltoris bromus yanuca.
- Total number of butterfly species in the Western Ghats
- The discovery of Caltoris bromus sadasiva brings the count of butterfly species in the Western Ghats to 336 and the count of skipper butterflies to 83, with the last skipper butterfly discovery being almost 75 years ago.
Significance of Western Ghats:
- About
- Western Ghats consist of a chain of mountains running parallel to India’s Western Coast and passing from the states of Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
- Significance:
- The Ghats influence the Indian monsoon weather patterns that mediate the warm tropical climate of the region.
- They act as a barrier to rain-laden monsoon winds that sweep in from the southwest.
- Western Ghats are home to tropical evergreen forests, as well as to 325 globally threatened species.
Key facts about Vembanad Lake:
- Overview:
- This is the largest lake in Kerala and the longest Lake in India.
- Vembanad Lake is also known as Vembanad Kayal, Vembanad Kol, Punnamada Lake (in Kuttanad) and Kochi Lake (in Kochi).
- It is bound by Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam.
- Spanning several districts of Kerala and covering a territory of more than 2033.02 km2.
- The lake has its source in four rivers, Meenachil, Achankovil, Pampa and Manimala.
- It is separated from the Arabian Sea by a narrow barrier island and is a popular backwater stretch in Kerala.
- Vallam Kali (i.e Nehru Trophy Boat Race) is a Snake Boat Race held every year in the month of August in Vembanad Lake.
- Significance of Vembanad Lake:
- In 2002, it was included in the list of wetlands of international importance, as defined by the Ramsar Convention.
- It is the second-largest Ramsar site in India only after the Sundarbans in West Bengal.
- The Government of India has identified the Vembanad wetland under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme.
- The Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary is located on the east coast of the lake.
- In 2019, Willingdon Island, a seaport located in the city of Kochi, was carved out of Vembanad Lake.
- Issues:
- Environmental Degradations: the lake is facing serious environmental degradation
- Causes: recurring floods, increased pollution, reduction in water spread area and increased weed growth
- Bunds on the lake were crumbling at certain places, making fishing difficult and on top of that the lake requires regular dredging and desilting.
- Tourism poses a threat to the ecology and the water quality of the lake. Resorts and residences discharge their waste into the river, and many houseboats do not have bio-toilets.
Pic Courtesy: The Hindu
Content Source: The Hindu