Guwahati: A new species of swallowtail butterfly, the Chinese rose windmill (Papilio genestieri), has been recorded in India for the first time during a recent high-altitude butterfly survey in the Shi-Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The species, previously known from Yunnan and Sichuan in China, as well as parts of Laos and northern Vietnam, was photographed on May 31 in Mechukha. The discovery marks the first official documentation of the species within Indian territory.
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The survey was conducted by a team comprising Monsoon J Gogoi and Yumlam Benjamin Bida from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Tajum Yomcha, Research Officer from the Itanagar office of the PCCF, and Duyir Buni Yedi, Tourism Information Officer, Mechukha.
Gogoi, who studies butterflies, explained that the Chinese rose windmill is distinct from the closely related rose windmill (Byasa latreillei), which is found in parts of northern and northeastern India.
According to him, the newly recorded species can be identified by its darker ground colour, additional dark-pink submarginal spots with scales, and four prominent white discal spots on the hindwing.
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Speaking about the find, Research Officer Tajum Yomcha said the sighting adds to the known butterfly diversity of the Mechukha valley. He noted that the Kaiser-I-Hind, another rare swallowtail species, had also been photographed in the region in 2023.
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