Commander’s defense

Monsoon showers are a good respite for the dry summers . It is blissful indeed when one is at home savoring hot bajjis and watching the rain,Monsoons and bajjis are synonymous with each other . The dark clouds did promise more rain . The trees were totally dripping wet and I was observing the huge Kadamb tree which had spread out its branches near my balcony.Butterflies and trees are interconnected with  each other . They have specific host plants where they lay eggs . As I was interested in rearing butterflies unknowingly I had stumbled upon another treasure – trees .Often on outings with birders when I point my camera towards a tree they too start looking in the same direction , When I tell them its a tree not a bird they do find it weird .  I can keep my self occupied for hours together admiring  trees , yes it may sound crazy but believe me I agree with Herman Hesse who quotes “Whoever has leaned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”

On one of the leaves a black pattern  was visible , very typical of the  commander caterpillar . On having a closer look I knew my dream of locating a caterpillar on this tree had come true.

This caterpillar eats up a part of the leaf and it makes frass  shield which is nothing but its droppings woven with silk. The caterpillar rests on the exposed mid rib of the leaf. The frass  keeps away the ants , the caterpillar uses it as a shield. Amazing to know how these caterpillars defend themselves . This is how the commander butterfly looks like click here to know more .

Commander at home

  

I just tried to recollect how many types of butterflies I remember before I had started  to observe them. I thought butterflies are colorful – some are green some are yellow and some of them are more colorful with patterns on them. I soon realized that it was much more than that.

I was lucky enough to be in the company of avid butterfly watchers and my eyes opened to the world of butterflies. I was astounded by the simple fact that there are about 20,000 species of butterflies in the world.Believe me butterflies are a delight to watch. It is really amazing to learn about them.

As I was browsing about butterfly wing patterns, I came to know about Dr. Cyril Clarke, a British physician and professor of medicine whose fascination with butterfly wings led him to pursue research that helped end infant deaths from a blood disease caused by incompatible Rh factors.He  found parallels between the inheritance of wing patterns in butterflies and the inheritance of blood types in people. That insight led to discoveries by him and others that eventually enabled women with Rh-negative blood who produce antibodies to the blood of their Rh-positive babies to have them safely.

To read more about him

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/05/world/dr-cyril-clarke-93-british-rh-disease-geneticist-dies.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

On one of the trails we visited the NCBS campus, where we were fascinated by the work going on in Dr Krushnamegh Kunte’s lab. One of the students, Gaurav, in his lab, was carrying the caterpillar of the Commander butterfly. I showed keen interest in observing it. He readily handed it over to me when I asked him if I can take it home for observation.

The  caterpillars of butterflies feed are specific on the plants they feed .They are called the larval host plants. The host plant for Commander is  Neolamarckia cadamba .

After feeding on the Kadamd leaves for a few days it started to pupate.Before pupating the caterpillar wanders around, often far away from the plant it fed on. It pupates among dried leaves and twigs. The pupa is brownish in color and rough in texture. It is angular with prominent wing expansions and bears flat processes on the head which curl together making a hole between them. It also has numerous lines and markings that make it look like a rolled up dried leaf.

Freshly formed pupa

  The close-up of the pupa after a few hours

In the morning I had checked the pupa and observed that it had turned black in colour indicating that the butterfly would emerge any time.

I had stepped out for a while , Kannan kept a watch on it . Soon  he realised that he had  missed the emerging butterfly. But what he saw was amazing the Commander clinging to its pupal case.This Picture gives a clear indication of how compactly it was packed.

      I had read somewhere that butterflies can be fed with ripe fruits so offered it a piece of  ripe banana it tasted with its proboscis  The Commander walked around for some time and then prepared for its first flight.