Assam documents butterflies of Bodoland Territorial Region

Published 4 July 2026 · india

The Assam Forest Department on Saturday (July 4, 2026) released a special booklet on the butterflies found in the forest landscape of the Bodoland Territorial

The Assam Forest Department on Saturday (July 4, 2026) released a special booklet on the butterflies found in the forest landscape of the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). Hagrama Mohilary, the Chief Executive Member of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), released the booklet in Kokrajhar, about 220 kilometres west of Guwahati. The BTC administers the Kokrajhar-headquartered BTR comprising five districts, all bordering Bhutan. Spread across 3,653 sq. km., the Bodoland forest landscape comprises a mosaic of tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist mixed-deciduous forests, and alluvial grasslands situated at the confluence of the Indo-Malayan and Indo-Gangetic biogeographic zones. The landscape supports 346 of Assam’s 620 recorded butterfly species, including several rare, endemic and threatened taxa, making BTR one of the richest butterfly habitats in Northeast India.

According to Sonali Ghosh, the chief of the Forest Department for BTR, the region is the only ecological corridor in the Northeast where butterfly species of the Eastern Himalayas, Indo-Malayan region, and the Indo-Gangetic plains occur together. BTR’s Ultapani-Manas landscape supports several rare and remarkable butterflies including the endemic yellow-crested spangle (Papilio elephenor) and Swinhoe’s flat (Celaenorrhinus zea). Other notable Eastern Himalayan species recorded from the landscape include the great windmill (Byasa dasarada), Moore’s cupid (Shijimia moorei), Mussoorie bush bob (Pedesta masuriensis), and green awlet (Burara vasutana). Among the Ultapani-Manas landscape’s Indo-Malayan butterflies is the witch (Araotes lapithis). This landscape also boasts the Indian cupid (Everes lacturnus assamica) and the white-line bushbrown (Mycalesis malsara), rarely found elsewhere in the Northeast.

Inspiring local culture Butterflies play a vital ecological role as pollinators, indicators of ecosystem health, and an integral component of the forest food web. Their diversity is closely linked to the conservation of native forests, grasslands and larval host plants, making butterfly conservation an important component of broader ecosystem management. Experts from the Northeast Butterfly Meet Network say the BTR represents not only an extraordinary centre of butterfly diversity but also a unique cultural landscape where butterflies have inspired traditional folklore and performing arts. The Bagurumba, popularly known as the butterfly dance of the Bodo community, is believed to have been inspired by the colourful mud-puddling congregations witnessed across the forests during the monsoon. During the monsoon season, areas such as Ultapani and Raimona witness such congregations on mud puddles, where butterflies obtain essential minerals and nutrients required for reproduction and survival.