New sub-species of six-line blue butterfly discovered from south Western Ghats

One of the authors says that this was the first time a new species was discovered by an all-Indian research team from the Western Ghats.

A new sub-species of the six line blue butterfly named Nacaduba sinhala ramaswamii has been discovered from the south Western Ghats and it adds to the butterfly fauna of India as well as that of the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Four researchers – Kalesh Sadasivan and K. Baiju from Travancore Nature History Society (TNHS), Rahul Khot from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and S. Ramasamy Kamaya Naicker of Vanam in Theni described the species. It was published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa in March, 2021. The new butterfly species is named after Lord Rama, signifying the connection across the sea to Sri Lanka. It is also a coincidence that the one of the authors whose efforts led to the discovery is named Ramasamy, an avid butterfly watcher from Tamil Nadu, whose joint efforts resulted in description of the new taxa. This Lycaenid butterfly belongs to Nacaduba genus and its common name is Ramaswami’s Six Lineblue and Ceylon Varayanneeli in its vernacular. “It was first photographed in 2011 by Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan from Kerala and later in 2015 and 2018 in Tamil Nadu. It took so long to differentiate it from other species of Nacaduba that occur here due to the complexity of this small group,” said Mr. Ramaswamy