New butterfly species, Chocolate-bordered Flitter, discovered in Sikkim

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<strong>Persistence and passion always pay dividends and that is what has happened with 30-year-old Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha as he etched his name in the history of science after spotting a new species of butterfly.</strong></p>
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Named Zographetus Dzonguensis, this new species of butterfly was found at Dzongu in the Namprickdang area, Noom Panang Village in upper Dzongu of Sikkim. Interestingly, this region is a stronghold of Lepchas, the indigenous people of Sikkim.</p>
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Happy about his discovery, Lepcha told EastMojo: “I never ever thought that I could come up with such a finding in my life. It’s a very big achievement for our State Sikkim and we all should be proud.”</p>
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Lepcha added: “I feel very proud to be a part of this butterfly world from Dzongu. They used to tease me by saying see ‘Butterfly Man’, but today I feel proud of myself when they say Butterfly Man. I take it in a positive way and that gives me more power,” he said.</p>
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The researchers — Krushnamegh Kunte, Sonam Wangchuk Lepcha, Tarun Karmakar, and Dipendra Nath Basu — who found this new species have suggested Chocolate-bordered Flitter as its English name since it has a chocolate-coloured border around both the wings. The study details were published in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.</p>
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Talking to EastMojo, Krushnamegh Kunte, Associate Professor, National Centre for Biological Sciences said: “We named this species the Chocolate-bordered Flitter, based on the chocolate-brown borders of its bright yellow wings.”</p>
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To his credit, Lepcha has so far recorded more than 350 butterfly species from this region – considered to be one of Sikkim’s best butterfly destinations.</p>
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The newly discovered species is similar to other two recently described species, Z.pangi from Guangdong and Z.hainanensis from Hainan in China.</p>
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<strong>Also read: <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/india-news/arunachal-pradesh-declares-magnificent-kaiser-i-hind-as-state-butterfly-128536.html">Arunachal Pradesh declares magnificent Kaiser-i-Hind as state butterfly</a></strong></p>