Conjoined Silverline (Cigaritis conjuncta)

Researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) found a new butterfly species in Karnataka’s Bramhagiri Wildlife Sanctuary, Kodagu.

Conjoined Silverline butterfly

• The butterfly species -- Conjoined Silverline (Cigaritis conjuncta) found from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. 
• Features
  • The new butterfly is the size of a one rupee coin but is invaluable to conservationists.
  • It is endemic to mid-elevation evergreen forests of the Western Ghats.
  • It has fused spots and bands on the underside of wings, and shiny silver lines in the centre of those bands.
  • The two sites where they have been located are at an elevation of 900 meters (Iruppu Falls) and 1,300 meters (Honey Valley).
• India houses more than 1,400 species of butterflies, but very few new ones have been discovered in the last few decades.

Key points about the Bramhagiri Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is situated on the southern side in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
• It is named after the highest peak of the sanctuary called Brahmagiri Hill.
• River: River Laxman Tirtha, a very important tributary of river Cauvery originates in it.
• Vegetation: It is covered with semi evergreen to wet evergreen forests with high altitude grassland shoal forests.
• Flora: Rosewood, Nandi, Mathi, Honne, Sura Honne, White Cedar, Red Cedar and Saldhupa etc.
• Fauna: Tiger, Elephants, and Indian Gaur are the big mammals commonly found here.

Western Ghats located?

It is also called Sahyadri, a north–south-running range of mountains in western India. It forms the crest of the western edge of the Deccan plateau parallel to the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghat is a biodiversity hotspot, a biologically rich but threatened region and a UNESCO World Heritage site.