When I first came across a swarm of butterflies I was amazed. On reading further about this I came across the information that butterflies migrate every year based on the season just like birds. And during this migration they can cover a very long distance, in this case a distance up-to 350-500Kms. And when they take a break during such migrations they roost through weeks with limited or no activity like feeding. Another shocker is , since the life span of a butterfly is only 1 month or a year depending on the breed, this entire journey is not made by the same butterflies. The journey may have been bgun by a butterfly but the return journey is made by its 3rd or 4th generations.
This post is based on this roosting behavior of butterflies that I had witnessed and that inspired me. The butterflies that roosted on the plant looked like they were fruits and flowers growing on the tree. In this post I am trying to capture this beauty in the design format where at the same time sharing this beautiful phenomenon that we seldom get to witness.
Here is an excerpt from The Hindu at http://www.hindu.com/mp/2009/10/01/stories/2009100151310300.htm on this:Krushnamegh Kunte, a post-doctoral research fellow in Harvard University and who has studied this annual migration, shed some light on the phenomena: “The Dark Blue Tiger, with several related species, migrates annually in southern India. Usually in October and November the migrating swarms in several millions pass through Bangalore to their final destination in the Nilgiris and Anamalais in the Western Ghats. They spend the post-monsoon, winter and summer seasons there. Then they have a return migratory flight through Bangalore further east, possibly towards the hills in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. This butterfly migration is one of the most charming natural phenomena in southern India.”
Here are the images of the artwork:
Some more pictures of this natural phenomenon that will amaze you:
artwarming 