Introduction

Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 is common in the Himalayas and flies throughout the year from foothills up to 4500 m (Sondhi & Kunte, 2018). This butterfly can be seen on wings in urban, natural, agroecosystems, and all types of terrains ( Haribal, 1990). Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 hibernates from December to late February (Qureshi & Bhagat, 2015). The author observed that Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 hibernates in the chrysalis stage and its chrysalises can be seen in nearby household buildings, tree hollows, and even on the rocks. Although sometimes the adults of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 are also active during winters. The author observed an adult of this species on 16-I-2022 in Garli, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh at an altitude of 410m which reveals that Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 tends to migrate to low elevations during winters. In a rare case an adult of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 was found in a sub-zero temperature of -15.1 degrees Celsius (Hassan, 2021). Two subspecies of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 are found in the Himalayas i.e., Aglais caschmirensis caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 and Aglais caschmirensis aesis Fruhstorfer, 1912. The subspecies caschmirensis is found from Kashmir east to Kullu while the subspecies aesis is found from Shimla east to Arunachal Pradesh (Varshney & Smetacek, 2015; Kehimkar, 2016; Sondhi & Kunte, 2018). The present study is based on Aglais caschmirensis aesis Fruhstorfer, 1912.

Materials and Methods

On 22-IX-2022 ninety larvae of different instar stages of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 were collected from the host plant Urtica dioica L. (Figure 1). These larvae were reared in a glass container with proper ventilation and a good supply of sunlight. They were fed on the leaves of Urtica dioica. The larvae of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 are voracious feeders and actively feed during the day and night and they form a congregation around a single leaf usually coiling the leaves with silky threads ( Figure 2). The collected larvae and chrysalises were carefully studied, and every detail was noted.

Figures 1-2.
1. Larvae of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 feeding on Urtica dioica. © Lovish Garlani. 2. Congregation of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844, larvae, coiling leaves with silky threads. © Lovish Garlani

Results and Discussions

The study found that out of 90 larvae, only 68 turned to the chrysalis stage. Some of the larvae were affected by parasitoids. These larvae were carefully studied and removed from the rearing container. It was interesting to observe that the remaining larvae produced chrysalises of four different colors i.e., Green, Red, Golden, and Brown ( Figure 3). Such great phenotypic variation among the chrysalises of a single species is an interesting and new phenomenon to witness in nature. It is worth mentioning that chrysalis pictures of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 given on the Butterflies of India website do not show any such color variations (Kunte et al. 2022).

Figure 3.
Variations in color of the chrysalis of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 (A: Golden, B: Brown, C: Red, D: Green) © Lovish Garlani

Among 68 Chrysalises, 32 were Golden in color, 18 were Brown, 12 were Red, and 06 were Green in color which further provides that Golden is the most dominant color while Green is the rarest color among the chrysalises of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844. A detailed study of the chrysalis types and their survival rate is given in Table 1.

Table 1.

Details of different types of Chrysalises and their Survival rate.

The above details provide that Golden colored chrysalises are the most common type among the chrysalises of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 and they also have the highest survival rate of 78.12% ( Figure 4). The Brown colored chrysalises are moderate in number and their survival rate is 72.22%. It was fascinating to observe that all the red-colored chrysalises of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 were affected by parasitoids and none of them survived and no adult butterfly emerged from them ( Figure 5). Especially Tachinid flies and Chalcid flies lay their eggs on caterpillars or chrysalises of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844. It was also observed that Green is the rarest color in the chrysalises with a survival rate of 66.66%.

Figures 4-5.
4a-b. The golden-colored; most common and abundant type of chrysalis of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 with the highest rate of survival. © Lovish Garlani. 5a-b. Red-colored chrysalis of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844 affected by Parasitoid, changed its color to dark brown after a few days of pupation. © Lovish Garlani

Conclusion

Hence, this study proves that Parasitoidism may be responsible for the red coloration in the chrysalises of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar, 1844. The color change from red to dark brown after a few days of pupation and a small hole can be seen on the lateral side of the affected chrysalis. It is also possible that other color variations in the chrysalis are interlinked with the sex of the chrysalis. Sometimes genetic factors also lead to variations in a chrysalis. As in this study, it was found that green-colored chrysalises were the rarest, which may be due to the expression of a Recessive gene. As only 61.76% of chrysalises survived, it is possible that either the caterpillars before pupation did not eat enough or they were affected by some disease, causing a lack of appetite which led to the reduction in survival rate.

Acknowledgments

This study is part of a long-term survey and study in Dharamshala town of Himachal Pradesh, India. The author acknowledges cooperation from the local people. The present study is self-funded by the author.

References

Haribal, M. (1990). The behavior of the Indian Tortoiseshell Butterfly Aglais (Vanessa) cashmiriensis (Kollar) in the Himalayas. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 87(1), 163-164.

Hassan, R. (2021). At minus 15 in Shopian, colder than Nubra Valley, trees have frosted, and car engines froze. Kashmir Reader. https://kashmirreader.com/2021/02/01/at-minus-15-in-shopian-colder-than-nubra-valley-trees-have-frosted-car-engines-frozen/ (01-II-2021).

Kehimkar, I. (2016). Butterflies of India. Bombay Natural History Society.

Qureshi, A. A., & Bhagat, R. C. (2015). Observations on Distribution and Biology of Aglais caschmirensis Kollar (Indian Tortoiseshell) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) From Kashmir Valley, J&K (India). Munis Entomology & Zoology, 10(1), 131-143.

Sondhi, S., & Kunte, K. (2018). Butterflies of Uttarakhand: A Field Guide. Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Titli Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences and Indian Foundation for Butterflies.

Varshney, R. K., & Smetacek, P. (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and Indinov Publishing.