International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies
Volume 1, Issue 3
Rediscovery of a butterfly, Neptis soma shania Evans 1924 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in the Sundarbans of Bangladesh
Author(s): Monwar Hossain
Abstract: The Sundarbans spanning over Bangladesh and India is the largest mangrove forest in the world which supports enormous number of insects including many species of butterflies. I report here the rediscovery of a butterfly species Neptis soma shania Evans 1924 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from Harbaria location (22°17' 46.4" N & 89°37'00.8" E) of the Sundarbans of Bangladesh which was recorded in March, 2013. The last known record of this species was from the Nizampur (22°46'37.6"N & 91°34'35.6"E) of Bangladesh by Chowdhury and Mohiuddin in 1999. This butterfly species had been extremely rare and not been noted for the last 14 years. This finding is significantly important in updating the status and distribution of this butterfly in Bangladesh including Sundarbans given its extreme rarity.
Fig: Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) view of Neptis soma Shania
Download Full Article : Click Here
