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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Danaid Eggfly


The more I see the more I learn, and the more I learn, the more I want to see..... 



On our Sunday visit to MNP, these butterflies were all over the place, and in fact, they seemed least bothered about us, and landed very near us, apparently in no hurry to leave....I felt they were just waiting to be photographed. Almost everyone there who had a camera took photos of these butterflies fluttering around.....
When I started writing my post about the Urban Leaves visit, I thought of mentioning the name of the butterfly, and did a bit of searching..... Much as I tried with all sorts of combinations, I wasn't able to get the exact name. An image search at last brought up some results, and the name there was not butterfly, but 'eggfly'!! I had never heard of this before, so did a search, and viola! there it was - the butterfly I was searching for - It was called the Danaid Eggfly.



Now that I had the name, it was easy to get more information, and it seems that this is quite a common one in India, but it has several interesting characteristics - for one, it is sexually diamorphic, which means that the male and female look completely different. Secondly, they are excellent mimics, which means they appear like butterflies of other species, and can be identified only by a close look. This is especially true of the females, which may look like those of other species, or in a few cases, they can look like the males themselves! Wow! What a means of camouflage!!!! Interesting, isn't it? Do you wonder now that I would love to learn more about these fascinating creatures, and see more of them? Incidentally, I still don't know why they are called 'eggflies' and not butterflies... Any ideas?

For more information, click on the links below..

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  1. AartiJanuary 5, 2013 at 11:39 AM

    Not sure why i dint see this post earlier.. LOVE LOVE LOVE it :))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anuradha ShankarJanuary 5, 2013 at 11:59 AM

      I dont know how u missed it, aarti! with ur love for butterflies!

      Delete

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