CHESTNUT-HEADED BEE-EATER

Scientific name: Merops leshenaulti 

Conservation status: Least Concern 

Pic credit:- Parveen Kaswan

The Chestnut-headed bee-eater is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropide.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Coraciiformes
• Family: Meropide
• Genus: Merops
• Scientific name: Merops leschenaulti

DESTRIBUTION

It is a resident breeder in Southern Asia from India to southeast Asia and Indonesia. They are found in sub-tropical open woodland and near water bodies.

DESCRIPTION

It is a richly coloured slender bird. It is green, with blue on the rump & lower belly. Its face & throat are yellow with black eye stripes, and crown & nape are rich chestnut. It is about 18 – 20 cm long.

DIET

It feeds on insects, especially on bees, wasps & hornets.

Orchids found in India

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Orchids form 9% of flora and are the the largest family among higher plants in India. There are 1,256 species (140 genera) of orchids are found in India.

Some of the species are:

• Renanthera imschootiana (Red Vanda)

This species of orchid is found in eastern Himalayas.

• Bulbophyllum echinolabium

It is also known as hedgehog-shaped lip bulbophyllum.

• Aerides ordoreta

This species is found in Southeast Asia.

Conservation status: Endangered

• Vanda coerulea

It is known as Blue orchid. It is found in Northeastern India ( Assam & Manipur) to China. It is a medicinal herb. The juice of flower is used as eye drops against glacoma, cataract and blindness.

• Cymbidium aloifolium

It is known as aleo-leafed cymbidium. It is found from China to Indonesia.

• Dendrobium lindleyi

It is known as Lindleey’s dendrobium. It is found in China, Northeast India to Vietnam.

• Paphiopedilum druryi

This species is endemic to Agastyamalai Hills of Tamil Nadu in India.

• Striped Jug Flower Orchid (Acanthephippium striatum)

• Fox Brush Orchid (Aerides)

• Himalayan Grass leaf Orchid (Cymbidium orchid)

• Pigeon Orchid (Dendrobium crumeneatum)

• Pineapple Orchid (Dendrobium densiflorum)

Golden Birdwing- India's largest butterfly

Golden Birdwing

(Troides aeacus)

The Golden Birdwing is a large tropical butterfly belonging to the swallowtail family.

Conservation status: Vulnerable 

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia 

Phylum:   Arthropoda

Class:      Insecta

Order:      Lepidoptera 

Family:    Papilionidae

Genus:    Troides

Species:  T. aeacus

                         Caterpillar of golden birdwing

It has a wingspan of reaching about 15 - 16cm (5.9 - 6.3in). In the male, the forewings are black, with veins bordered by whitish colour, while the hindwings are bright yellow. The female are double the size of the males and have dark brown or black wing. They mainly feed on Aristolochia and Thottea species of plants.

   

Wingspan of female: 194mm (19.4cm)

Wingspan of male:     106mm (10.6cm)

 

It is the largest butterfly species found  in  the Indian Subcontinent. It is found in northern India, Nepal, Manmar (Burma), China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, peninsular Malaysia and Indonesia.

        Largest specimen of Golden Birdwing 

It has a wingspan of 194mm (19.4cm). The specimen is present in Butterfly Research Centre at Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India.

Ganges Shark

Ganges Shark 

(Glyphis gangeticus)

The Ganges Shark is a critically endangered species of requiem shark found in the Ganga river and the Brahmaputra river of India and Bangladesh.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered 

Scientific Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia 

Phylum:   Chordata 

Class:      Chondrichthyes

Order:      Carcharhinidae

Genus:    Glyphis

Species: Glyphis gangeticus 

It's size is estimated about 178cm (70in) to 204cm (80in). It is known to inhabit only in freshwater, inshore marine of the Ganga-Hooghly river system. They are viviporous.

It is one of 20 sharks on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List of endangered shark species. The species is currently classified as critically endangered. They are vulnerable to habitat changes and pollution. It is also believed to be part of the Asian shark fin trade. The species had last found at a Mumbai fosh market in 2016.

Purple Frog

  Purple Frog

(Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis)

The Purple Frog is one of only two species in the Nasikabatrachidae family. It is found in the Western Ghats in India. It is also known as Pignose frog.

Conservation status:- Endangered

Scientific classification:

Kingdom:   Animalia

Phylum:     Chordata

Class:        Amphibia

Order:       Anura

Family:     Nasikabatrachidae

Genus:     Nasikabatrachus

Species:  N. sahyadrensis

It is endemic to Southern Western Ghats in India. It remains underground most of the year except for 2-3 weeks during the monsoon when it comes out to mate.

It is a "living fossil", this species exist on Earth since 70 millions years ago (7 crores years) at that time, it co-exist which dinosaurs. It's closest relative is found in the Seychelles Archipelagos, the Indian Ocean. The Indian subcontinent and the Seychelles were once part of the same landmass "Gondawana land", but they were separated 65 millions years ago.

The purple frog has a bloated body with short stout limbs and is dark purple to greyish in colour. Reaching to about 7 centimetres, it has a small head in comparison to the body length, and an unusually pointed snout. Its short and muscular forelimbs with hard palms help it to burrow underground. Unlike other frogs, it has very short hind legs, which does not allow it to leap from one spot to another. As a result, it covers any distance with long strides. It depends more on its sense of smell to hunt out soil termites underground.

This burrow-dwelling frog prefers loose, damp and well-aerated soil close to ponds and ditches or streams. This makes it convenient for adults to come out to mate during the monsoon and the females lay eggs in the water bodies. Around 3000 eggs are laid in a rock pool and the tadpoles metamorphose after 100 days.

                             Tadpole of Purple Frog

Only 135 individuals of this species are known, of which only 3 are females. The major threat to it is habitat loss due to human encroachment.