Butterflies Part V

Related posts here.

Some more of the gorgeous butterflies that we see regularly but hardly aware of. For a common person, all the butterflies look alike and are the same!

This is a small attempt to educate and encourage people more towards "buttering" (slang word for butterfly watching).


Plain Tiger butterfly
Danaus chrysippus, known as the Plain Tiger or African Monarch, is a common butterfly which is widespread in Asia and Africa. It is a medium-sized with a wingspan of about 7–8 cm, non-edible butterfly, which is mimicked by multiple species. The range of the Plain Tiger extends from Africa and southern Europe, eastwards via Sri Lanka, India, and Myanmar to China, Java and Sulawesi. It is a very common species.

Common Grass Yellow butterfly
The Large Grass Yellow or Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe) is a small pierid butterfly species found in Asia or Africa. They are found flying close to the ground and are found in open grass and scrub habitats. It is simply known as "the grass yellow" in parts of its range.

Great Eggfly butterfly
The Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina) is a species of nymphalid butterfly. It is a black-bodied butterfly with a wingspan of about 70–85 mm. It is found in Madagascar in the west, through to South and Southeast Asia, South Pacific islands, and occurs in parts of Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. It is a fairly common butterfly found in lightly wooded country, deciduous forests, thick and moist scrub and the greener parts of human habitation.

Peacock Pansy butterfly
The Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. It exists in two distinct adult forms, which differ chiefly in the patterns on the underside of the wings. The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 54–62 mm. It is found in India and South East Asia, and eastwards to China and Japan.

Wait for more fascinating ones :)
I refer http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/ and Wikipedia for information about the butterflies.

Butterflies Part IV

Part I here
Part II here
Part III here

Let's have a look at some more of the beautiful winged jewels with those intricate patterns and designs and that flutter and soar with all pride and glamor in front of you :)


Malabar Banded Peacock butterfly
The Malabar Banded Peacock (Papilio buddha) is a species of swallowtail found in the Western Ghats of India. The wing expanse is 107–155 mm making it a large butterfly. This probably is one of most beautiful specimens I have seen till date.

Common Sailer butterfly
(Neptis hylas), sometimes known as the Common Sailer, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It has a characteristic stiff gliding flight achieved by short and shallow wingbeats.

Blue Mormon butterfly
The Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) is a large swallowtail butterfly and endemic to India and Sri Lanka. In India it is restricted to the Western Ghats, Southern India and the East coast. It is often seen even in the gardens and sometimes in the middle of busy traffic in large cities such as Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. The butterfly is most common in heavy rainfall areas, such as evergreen forests. Commonly found in deciduous forests and wooded urban areas, primarily due to the cultivation of its host plants, i.e. the Citrus species.

White-bar Bushbrown butterfly
The White-bar Bushbrown (Mycalesis anaxias) is a species of satyrid butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia with a wingspan of 51–60 mm.

I refer http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/ and Wikipedia for information about the butterflies.

Butterflies Part III

Part I and II respectively here and here...


Danaid Eggfly butterfly
The Danaid Eggfly, Mimic, or Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus) is a widespread species of nymphalid butterfly. It is well known for polymorphism and mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in blue. They are found across Africa, Asia, and Australia.



Common Leopard butterfly
The Common Leopard (Phalanta phalantha) is a sun-loving butterfly of the Nymphalid or Brush-footed Butterfly family. It is a medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of 50–55 mm with a tawny color and marked with black spots. The underside of the butterfly is more glossy than the upper and both the male and female are similar looking. Sun loving and avoids shade (Sorry for the lousy shot with the wings closed, it looks dramatically beautiful with intricate spots all over the body when the wingspan is open).



Pea Blue butterfly
The Peablue, Pea Blue, or Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) is a small butterfly found in Europe, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Australia that belongs to the Lycaenids or gossamer-winged family. The wingspan is 24-32 mm for males and 24-34 mm for females.



Gray Pansy butterfly
The Gray Pansy (Junonia atlites) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. The least common pansy in India, found at low elevations in regions of heavy rainfall. It’s frequently seen in paddy fields, seldom in jungles and never in dry areas. Visits flowers of various plants.

(another shot of this beautiful butterfly with a better view)

Syntheri Rocks (Dandeli) (Part II)

Well, the 2nd part is finally here after appearing as a guest post on My Yatra Diary, blog by Arti from Mumbai. I selected this article for her when she asked for an guest post on any topic of my choice.

Here is the link -> http://myyatradiary.com/2012/01/syntheri-rocks-at-dandeli-western-ghats.html

or here -> Syntheri Rocks guest post

If you are an traveler and love visiting temples and heritage spots, please go through her blog she has some brilliantly composed detailed stuff over there and you can have a virtual tour of every other pilgrimage center she has visited. I thank Arti for the gesture and giving me another chance to guest post on her famous blog. Thanks :)
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Me to Raja - What shall we do tom when Nag and Guru come, any plans?
Raja - As said earlier, either Kavala caves or Syntheri rocks
Me - Y not jungle safari at Dandeli
Raja - Check
Parshu(staff at JLR) - Sir, safari cost, 850/- head, not advised
Me- Kavala?
Parshu - Sir, total 8hrs reqd, need to leave at 4am to travel 40 odd kms and then trek, if needed will arrange vehicle.
Raja - Syntheri?
Parshu - Sir, 30kms away, ok ok place, should visit early before crowd comes in, will arrange jeep for that too, economical too.
Raja - Ok, will decide after boys come tom.
Next day
Me - Boys, plans as such, let us know your choices...
Nag - Kavala or Syntheri...
Guru & Raja - anything fine
Me - Safari? Boys - Not interested
Raja, Nag, Guru - Syntheri , Syntheri - at least 1 place shall visit...
Me - hmmm hmmm (still thinking of safari)...sigh!
Boys - Kavala is too tiresome, lets check out Syntheri this time.
Me - hmmm hmmm...
Boys - Parshu, ask him only!
Me - (finally) Ok, as per boys wishes, Syntheri it is!
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A monolithic single granite stone with a height of 300ft with the river Kaneri flowing at its base. It’s a huge, massive limestone rock formed due to volcanic eruptions some zillion (how many is your wild guess!) years ago. It is named after an English lady called Ms. Cinthera who is believed to have discovered this place in the 20^th century. A flight of 200 odd steps downwards leads you to the base where the river flows and you get to see a giant rock formation from the bottom. There are numerous caves within and its not accessible hitherto you have special permission from the department to study and explore which is very unlikely.

It’s tall, wide and mesmerizing to say the least, wonder how they were created! Added to this there are numerous and numerous bee hives here and flocks of pigeons and smaller birds reside in the deep holes of the caves unseen to us. Being a tourist centre has its own disadvantages and as Syntheri Rocks is located close to the temple town of Ulavi, hordes of people visit this place on their way to and fro from Ulavi and when the annual fest (or jathre as we call it) happens at Ulavi, this place literally becomes a picnicker’s paradise with people and vehicles everywhere messing it up completely, sad but true is the case, as with other tourist spots.

But, the forest department is doing its bit in maintaining this place by putting up warning signboards and posting guards to not allow people getting into the river as the flow is heavy and with strong currents pose a threat.

The entrance to the area is from the main road with a nominal entry fees charged and the smaller vehicles are let into up to the designated parking area from where you need to climb down the steps to reach the base. The distance from the entry to the parking lot is easily more than a km and its midst of bamboo plantations, some old, some new and here is where you get the forest feel. Wish entry of vehicles is completely banned inside so that people walk from the entrance leaving their polluting vehicles outside which may deter in few people not visiting due to the walking…

The steps are big and nicely placed and railings on each side do not allow you to wander. Along the side, small concrete towers are erected and on each tower you get to see different kinds of sample rocks cemented with useful information provided on each of them as to what are they and what they constitute of – a true geologist’s paradise. But sad to see the sorry state of affairs of the towers – some of them missing, some with moss growth and some defaced. I would love to see some more boards depicting the importance of this place and providing more information to the visitors. Still, the place exudes a charm that’s successful in hordes of people visiting here and this place is similar to Yana and Kavala caves.

We were quite pleased to have visited this place that often went unvisited on our multiple trips to areas around Dandeli, thanks to the boys :)

Location: Dandeli-Ulavi highway

Distance: 30 odd kms from Dandeli,

Transport: Local jeeps on hire/sharing are the best bet.

Food: None.

Time: 9am to 6pm if I’m not wrong (forgot to confirm this)!

Butterflies Part II

Some more butterflies in part II of the series...

Common dart butterfly

The Common Dart (Potanthus pseudomaesa) is commonly known as the Indian Dart or Pseudomaesa Dart, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It’s abundant in the hills and jungles and in fairly wet regions. A fast and powerful flier, it settles frequently on flowers and leaves.

Three spot grass yellow butterfly

Three-spot grass yellow (Eurema blanda) is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, i.e., the Yellows and Whites found in India. A butterfly of lowland forests and resembles the common grass yellow.

Chocolate pansy butterfly

The Chocolate pansy (Junonia iphita) is also known as the Chocolate soldier is a butterfly found in Asia. Individuals maintain a territory and are usually found close to the ground level and often bask in the sun.

Fulvous pied flat butterfly

Fulvous pied flat (Pseudocoladenia dan) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. An inhabitant of moist, cool and dense jungles, it visits flowers, bird droppings frequently and water rarely. It’s fond of basking in the sun on the upper surface of leaves close to the ground. With extremely rapid flight, it makes long lasting aerial sorties occasionally in shady clearings.

Part I here...

Butterfiles from Kodagu (Coorg) I

Butterflies were all around the place we visited (I still do remember seeing lot of them on our last trek to Tadiandamol here, couple of years back). Then it was just a fascination seeing so many of them around and with glorious colors and patterns and I was just into photography then.


Now and after the NTP, I love butterflies for many reasons, they are super active with loads of energy, always busy moving around, leave a mark in a short span of time, colorful and are pleasing on the eyes and you are kept active once you start chasing them because of all the running you have to do :D


Check out a few of them listed below, will add more details about each of them as I find time and more than a couple of posts to be composed are waiting due to lack of time :)


Gray Pansy Butterfly
The Gray Pansy (Junonia atlites) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. The least common pansy in India, found at low elevations in regions of heavy rainfall. It’s frequently seen in paddy fields, seldom in jungles and never in dry areas. Visits flowers of various plants.

Blue Tiger Butterfly
The Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace) is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the Crows and Tigers, that is, the Danaid group of the Brush-footed butterflies’ family. The butterfly larva generally feed on plants of Family Asclepiadaceae (milkweeds, rattle pods, etc..). This species migrates extensively during the Monsoons in southern India.

Gladeye Bushbrown Butterfly
The Gladeye Bushbrown (Mycalesis patnia) is a satyrid butterfly found in southern India and Sri Lanka. A common butterfly in the tropical and subtropical evergreen forests and the bamboo forests. Files close to the gourd and the weakest flier of the genus. Visits fallen berries, fruits and sugary sap.

Common Hedge Blue Butterfly
The Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa) is a small butterfly that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family. The Common Hedge Blue is usually found flying along brightly sunlit footpaths along forest tracks. It flies in an erratic manner and males are usually observed feeding on damp patches on the forest floor. Males are a shining blue above and this can be noticed when the butterfly is in flight.

Agumbe (Seetanadi nature camp)

We have been to Agumbe a couple of times but never got a chance to enjoy its beauty during the monsoons and we had no intention of missing it this time. The participants swelled from 4 to 10 and finally only 3 of us made it to Agumbe. We didn’t stay at Agumbe but @ the Seetanadi nature camp, Someshwara Wildlife division at Hebri, very close to Agumbe and we had the complete dormitory all for ourselves.

What we realized the hard way was that the Hebri camp is located at the foothills of Agumbe ghats and the weather was hot and dry with no breeze what so ever in spite of the continuous rains. We boarded the KSRTC Rajahamsa bus from Bangalore to Hebri and the journey was super smooth till we stopped with a flat tyre near to Karkala, a good hour away from Hebri. A couple of hours lost till finally we reached Karkala by one of the private local buses that are so frequent over here. A delicious breakfast later, we had to board another local transport to Hebri which was a smooth, entertaining ride. From Hebri, we hired an auto to drop us till the entrance of the Seetanadi camp.

The camp looks very inviting and all that you see around is green in the campus. From the main road, you need to walk about a km to reach the cottages, tents and the dormitory. A little walk ahead and you are right in the Sita river that was flowing menacingly and had submerged some part of the camp area. The accommodations are all good and well maintained by the staff (Of Kulgi, Bhagavathi, Muthodi, Seetanadi camps that we have been to, Bhagavathi camp scores low on maintenance compared to others). Rains were omnipresent and persistent and drizzles led to downpours and the sun finding it difficult to shine through the dark clouds. 

Lunch and some rest and all we did were some roaming around the campsite hoping to catch some herps around but to no avail. In fact, we were hard pressed to pass time and were waiting for every opportunity to wander when the rains stopped. Some colorful dragon and damsel flies and lots of tadpoles kept us occupied for long. Capturing them required effort, laying flat on the ground, low light, focusing amidst the foliage and asking them to pose J

Next day early in the morning, the sun was bright and we opted for a trek through one of the routes mapped in the campsite, particularly I had applied Odomos to keep away the leeches. Probably 10 minutes into the trek and the skies opened up with full force (It was as if we fell right into the trap) and we had no place for cover. Luckily we had a couple of umbrellas that saved some part of us from getting wet. The leeches were highly active now and we were the right prey for them in a hopeless situation, they bit me where Odomos was not applied and so far probably I had never donated so much blood!

The track was slushy with the rain pouring, fallen trees and shrubs blocking our path and the leeches climbing on to us from everywhere and this looked like a never ending trek. As we approached a drier place with the rains receding, I could find a pack of leeches sucking my blood me in one spot where I had missed applying Odomos cream. At last count there were around 25+ leeches on me and all that I could see was my blood stained foot when we finally made it back to the camp. Leeches are smart creatures, they find the nicotine infested blood of Guru tasteless and find it hard to penetrate the buffalo like thick skin of Nag and I’m the easiest prey of the lot being a warm blooded human with a mild skinJ.

After cleansing and breakfast, we set off towards Agumbe again hopping on to the local bus that plies very frequently in these regions. In fact, they are lifeline of Malnad region becoming an effective alternate to the government bus services. A lifer for me was the sighting of the Lion Tailed Macaque (an endemic species of the Western Ghats) from the bus as it was moving on the boundary walls of the ghats. Surprises when you least expect it! It’s such a beautiful creature completely draped in black with a silver white mane. The weather changed dramatically as we rode up the ghats to the lovely small town of Agumbe. Rains were in no mood to let go and it was a heavy downpour that seemed never ending. Mist had accumulated and it was a lovely sight perfect to soothe your eyes. From the bus stand, a few paces down the main road towards Sringeri, leads a mud road between two housed to Rumolous Whitaker’s Agumbe Rainforest Research station (www.agumberainforest.com).

The walk was a very long one but the weather was cloudy and a slight drizzle now and then and not a soul in sight, only thing we could hear were the bulbuls, sunbirds and the minivets calling. It’s a perfect walk in the woods and there is no missing the ARRS as the track ends right there. Discussions with the coordinator there enlightened us about the activities and projects undertaken and hope to be there sometime for volunteering. The walk back was more or less similar with the rains reduced and the weather perfect, finally a good walk of about 5kms after a long time. After a sumptuous lunch at the bus stand and a little rest later, we walked up to the sunset point only to be treated with a misty environment and zero visibility and this continued till we were there.

Every tourist place has it plethora of problems and Agumbe is no exception. The place near the sunset point is crowded by hawkers, sellers and mindless people who come in bikes and cars and park as they wish creating a chaos out there. The sunset point is in the ghat section and these acts of stupidity create a lot of traffic snarls and endless honking! Lovely weather, drizzling rain and how can you not resist having some hot tea with bajji’s…. well we couldn’t and finally we ended up having endless bajji’s and countless tea’s till our taste buds were pacified, all these at the bajji centre close to the old vista point. A momentary decision ensured we started walking down the Agumbe ghats instead of travelling by the local transport and we had no idea how far that would be. Call us crazy… yeah, we are kind of!&$*#!. We walked, walked downhill enjoying the serene vista and avoiding the traffic till we were tired and we realized that only after seeing that we had covered a good 9kms downhill on foot. No more adventures till we reached home from there!

For accommodation at Seetanadi nature camp call the forest department office at 08253 250005 at Karkala.
For staying at Doddamane (Kasturi akka's house) @ Agumbe, call 08181 233075
For staying at ARRS, call 08181 223081 / 233186 or email them at arrs.india@gmail.com

Monsoons in W Ghats II @ Ganeshgudi

Well, we knew it would be raining and that's the reason we chose to do a quick dash to Ganeshgudi JLR camp over the weekend in July. The other reason was that it was a long 5 months since we had been there and we had to go there again, yes again, and we would love to go there again and again :)

Every time we go to Ganeshgudi that is almost 500kms away, we try different routes and options, enjoying each and every transportation we choose. Booked our tickets on the Rani Chennamma express that goes up to Londa Jn from where Ganeshgudi is around 20 odd kms by bus. Cramped with work, I had to work in the train with the others snoring and I loved the fact that Reliance data connectivity was present all through the way albeit at a lower speed, my journey with Reliance continues into its 7th year now :)


Rains kept company all along and with sparse sleep, I was up very early in the train roaming between the coaches waiting for the sun to rise. Well, cloudy weather prevailed and it was a refreshing view out from the train with greens all along the route with monsoon in full splendor and life sprouting in all forms all along. Paddy fields, barren lands, villages, towns, everywhere and everything was green to the core and the fragrance of the wet soil that brings in a sense of 'Ah! Pleasant' was omnipresent all through the train journey.

How many of love to spend time near the train compartment doors pushing your head out and allowing the breeze to blow against your face early in day soaking in the fresh air and chill weather? Ah! We love to do it and we generally spend most of our travel time near the door rather than in the ac compartment!


The rain game started as soon as we landed at Londa as it was raining intermittently, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, a game we loved being part of! Breakfast was awaiting us as also Parshuram and staff at the JLR camp. I entered the camp with a preset mind that my 100-400 zoom lens would be sparsely used and I lived up to it.

The 2 days we spent at the camp was all about tea, breakfast, bread toast, lunch, pakodas, salads, soup, dinner and desserts; chatting, sleeping, whaling away time while it kept raining intermittently. Frogs, bugs, beetles, insects, butterflies and few birds when the rains gave us a break.

Birdlife was very sparse as we had expected and my wish of seeing the singing maestro was finally fulfilled - the elusive Malabar Whistling Thrush. Its not a fair looking bird and many mistake it for the crow. It is also black with metallic blue wings and you should listen to its song to believe it. Every time my phone rings, the Malabar Whistling thrush comes alive :)

Bird checklist:
Malabar Whistling Thrush
Yellow browed Bulbul
White bellied Blue flycatcher
Puff throated Babbler
Emerald Dove
Orange headed Thrush
Blue capped Rock thrush
Shikra
Rufous bellied Woodpecker
Racquet tailed Drongo
Orange Minivets
Golden backed Woodpecker
Indian Robin
Brown cheeked Fulvetta
Malabar Grey Hornbill
Jungle Mynah

Indian Bull Frog
Bicolored Frog
Red Cotton Bug
Grasshoppers
Locust
White four ring Butterfly
and many unidentified ones!

While coming back we took a jeep ride till Dandeli where there was no signs of rain at all and we took the government bus till Dharwad where we had to pick up the mandatory 'Baburao Singhs Thakur Peda' :) The Volvo service to Bangalore starts from the new bus stand at Dharwad. To the dismay of us the bus stand is out of the city limits and looks very  isolated place and with no hotels around, sad but true and we had to face this unkind situation! Well, another learning never to skip food when it's available hoping you will find something :)

Simha farms - Monsoons, Macros, Western Ghats

So far, it has been a quite year for us with fewer adventures and more work and this seems to be continuing into the 2nd half of the year too... After the NTP, I should confess with pride I no longer venture into the field looking out for either birds or mammals only, its every life form that now enthuses me and everything looks interesting :)

With new work and new responsibilities, my Saturdays are a little jeopardized with a couple of hours work to be done and that reflects wherever I travel. Instantly we decided on visiting my friend Adithya's Simha farms for the weekend that is located at Madodi village at the foothills of Kodachadri very close to Hosanagara and Kollur. We needed a break and we were well aware, it would be raining and we were happy about it! (What else do lazy bums need...) Rains in the western ghats is different - it rains, it rains and it only rains. Just when you think the rains have stopped, it starts again, its not a heavy downpour but a slow steady drizzle for hours together and this is the story every day for couple of months when the monsoon is at its peak. Seeing the sun is uncommon and he may not be visible for a couple of days together and all that you get to see is dark clouds hovering above threatening to open up anytime... and with it comes lots of mosquitoes and mosquito bites!

The whole place turns green and you get to see a lot of shades of green all around, the amphibians, reptiles, bugs, beetles, insects are all out and its a macro world out there for the people interested. The little drops of water on the flowers, on the rich green leaves, the moths and caterpillars, centipedes and millipedes, bugs and beetles, frogs and toads, lizards and snakes, you just cant stop smiling. Shooting macros is not an easy job, you need to get wet, dirty and slushy and suffer zillions of insect bites to get close to the subject. Of the lot, frogs are the friendliest who do pose for you diligently, the bugs and beetles are the ones that make you run around, but are good posers once they are tired and realize you are still behind them! I'm still in the infancy of macro photography and now I have started venturing into manual focusing and different exposure combinations with my Tamron multipurpose lens. 

(not sure whether it is the Common Green Forest Lizard?)

With the KSRTC Rajahamsa service running full, we had to choose the Durgamba travels to Madodi and we were bed bugged the whole night :( As we landed early in the day, the rains had just stopped and the fantastic weather was so rejuvenating for our tired limbs. Probably for the first time ever, my Canon camera was in the bag for more than a couple of hours since I landed there. My eyes were scanning all around for something interesting and a couple of hours passed by waiting for the rains to recede and in finishing my work. Stuffing ourselves with breakfast, lunch and snacks and with continuous rains and our continuous bouts of sleep, it was evening time before we even realized. Briefly for about an hour or so, the sun was out  and all of a sudden the place was brimming with bird activity in a hurried manner. In a span of less time I sighted the Racquet tailed drongo, Malabar Grey hornbill, Velvet fronted Nuthatch, Small Minivets, Asian fairy Bluebird, Verdited flycatcher, Purple rumped Sunbird, Golden Oriole, Vernal hanging Parrot, Golden flameback Woodpecker and many more that I could only hear but not see that finally brought out my Canon zoom lens into action. The evenings were colder and the day ended with a bachelors party for Raja and with rains, rains and more rains! (Well Nag aka Nagaraj Gaitonde had a very long night and a night to remember for sure :)).

Day 2 started of with less rains and sun was more prominent than the day before and it sure was an interesting day for all of us. Snails, Centipedes, Caterpillars were all around the place and there were varied life forms all around. When it rains the Cicadas and the Crickets are the most noisiest around but hardly visible, got a single view shot of a Cicada luckily. The massive bull sized Indian Bull Frog was very co-operative and didn't move an inch letting us close by and a couple of other frogs too. The Cicada, mating Grasshoppers, the tiny yet beautiful Blue banded bee kept me occupied till the time we departed from the place. The session of badminton that we played made us realize where it hurts the most if you are playing after a long gap. The most interesting happening was the Cicada kill by the Praying Mantis and the after events.

(@ about 2:30PM)

After lunch, as were were gearing up for a team photo shoot, we were attracted by the shrills of a cicada close by but a little unusual and off sound. Closely inspecting the surroundings, finally we found the cicada firmly in the grasp of the spiked forelegs of the mantis on the bark of the nearby tree. The shrill from the cicada continued as the grasp of the mantis became stronger.

(@ about 2:45PM)

What amazed us all was the manner the mantis was holding on to its prey firmly standing upside down on the bark of a tree and the prey being heavier than itself. As the cicada was still moaning, the mantis was on its job chewing of its prey from the top and it was a sore sight for us observing all the action. The life in cicada was not out completely as it still tried to wriggle away even as the mantis kept on munching on its prey.

We could not get too close as the position of the mantis on the bark was not conducive but all of us sat observing the game of life and death through the binox and our naked eyes and somewhere in our hearts we felt sorrow for the cicada. Half an hour later, the boys went for a nap and I went around chasing the bees and the grasshoppers around.

(@ about 3:40 PM)

The action went on for more than an hour with the mantis enjoying the feast and the cicada now only half visible. I left the mantis to feed further on its pray without causing further disturbance to chase the insects and the bees. I could not find the mantis after an hour or so past 5PM nor could find the shell of the dead cicada. Amazing nature and amazed to see such instances live!

We bid goodbye to Adithya and proceeded towards Shimoga town from where our reservations on the KSRTC Mercedes Benz was confirmed to Bangalore. Somewhat, we were not happy with the Merc ride and felt the Volvo's are much better in comfort.


Personally for me, a good beginning into the macro world and I know for sure this will linger on for some time to come :)


You can contact Adithya Biloor @ www.simhafarms.com
and @
9449652173 / 9379535738 / 08185253738