Utterly flutter-ly fun: Attend this Butterfly Festival in Mumbai to explore the world of these winged insects

Blue mormon butterfly

Butterflies are excellent pollinators, a vital marker of their ecosystem's health, and an unexpendable part of the food pyramid. But when we ask BNHS education officer Priyadarshini Supekar why she has an eye on the butterflies of Mumbai, her answer is simple - "When I see a hundred butterflies fluttering around me, it makes me happy inside." You can't possibly contest that. At the Butterfly Festival this weekend, Mumbaikars will have the opportunity to experience this spectacle up close.

Striped tiger butterflies spotted at the BNHS CEC in Goregaon. PICS COURTESY/BNHS CEC

"Mumbai's monsoon has coloured our forest bright green. Hidden under this green cover are host plants - plants that make ideal sites for butterflies to mate and lay eggs. On the other hand, more flowers also mean more nectar to feed on," Supekar explains why the butterflies are out and about around this time of the year. While these host plants, including lemon trees and curry leaf plants, are spread across a 33-acre area of the BNHS Nature Reserve, visitors will be escorted to a compact Butterfly Garden in the premises this weekend.

Psyche butterfly

"In addition to host plants and nectar plants, we have carefully planted alkaloid plants in the garden. These plants help male butterflies secrete pheromones to attract female mates," she reveals. Talk about being a good wingman. The fruition of these efforts, the officer adds, is that you might witness more than 50 butterflies from species like common lime, striped tiger, psyche, and blue oakleaf at the same time in the garden.

Blue oak leaf butterfly

For curious learners, Supekar has bigger plans in mind. An edutainment session at the Conservation Education Centre will give visitors a refresher on the complex life-cycles of butterflies and moths. "When you learn about the processes and head to the garden to witness it live, it remains etched in your mind forever," Supekar suggests, adding that visitors at the festival will go home with more than memories of ‘feeling happy inside'. A painting session will encourage participants to put their favourite butterfly sightings of the day on paper (or rocks and leaves, if that's your jam).

Participants paint at the 2023 edition students learn about butterflies at the Butterfly Garden in BNHS Nature Reserve

Brewing under all the fun and games at the two-day event is a larger cause close to the hearts of naturalists like Supekar. "The presence of butterflies reveals that the host plant species in the region are intact. Thankfully in Mumbai, the population has been stable," she assures us. With the increasing concretisation and rapid infrastructural changes across Mumbai's urban scapes, there might not be a better time to catch a glimpse of these beautiful winged insects.

Priyadarshini Supekar

ON October 19 and 20; 8 am to 10 am
MEETING POINT BNHS Conservation Education Centre, Film City, Goregaon East.
LOG ON TO @bombaynaturalhistorysociety on Instagram
ENTRY Rs 350 (members); Rs 450 (non-members)