Please Stand Up And Voice Ur Protest Against Maharashtra Government’s Silly Attitude---- By Arunava ---- Saviour of Forests (hopethane@yahoogroups.com

On Sun, 6/7/08, Rajesh Sachdev wrote:

From: Rajesh Sachdev
Subject: [hopethane] Maha Govt to approach SC for reducing bird sanctuary area

To: "BOB" , "Mumbainaturalists" , defendingwildindia@yahoogroups.com, "nathistory" , "Maharashtra Pakshimitra Pakshimitra" , "wild mumbai" , hopethane@yahoogroups.com, "orientalbirding yahoogroups" , forestrights@yahoogroups.com, ecwatch@yahoogroups.com, moefchalo-owner@yahoogroups.com

Date: Sunday, 6 July, 2008, 3:54 PM

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Government will approach the Supreme Court next week, for approval to limit the area of the Great Indian Bustard sanctuary in the state to around 350 sq km.

This is a drastic climb down from the original proposal of the State Government in 1985 to have the sanctuary, spread in Solapur and Ahmednagar districts, in a 8,500 sq km area.

"The apex court has asked for a compliance report and next week, we will be making a submission before the Court, for limiting the sanctuary area to around 347 sq km", a senior Forest Department official said.

Vociferous protest by people's representatives in these areas, at a meeting in Pune recently, is among the reasons for reducing size of the sanctuary, whose core area is around Nannaj in Solapur district.

Forest Minister Babanrao Pachpute's appeal to drastically shrink the sanctuary, home to the endangered bird species, has been rejected by the apex court-appointed panel.

The committee, headed by V B Savarkar, had insisted that the state should retain at least 1,222 sq km area of the sanctuary to protect the rare bird.

The apex court has the powers to de-notify areas of the sanctuaries, under the wildlife protection laws.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Maha_Govt_ to_approach_ SC_for_reducing_bird_sanctuary_area/articleshow /3202661.cms

Regards
Rajesh Sachdev
Wild Mumbai Nature Conservation

"The tiger cannot be preserved in isolation. It is at the apex of a large and complex biotope. Its habitat, threatened by human intrusion, commercial forestry, and cattle grazing, must first be made inviolate." - Mrs. Indira Gandhi

We Can Solve The Climate Crisis

Runaway Ice Chunk In Antarctica Worries Scientists
The Associated Press
March 26, 2008
(Taken by Arunava Das, Media Analyst, EmPower Research, Bangalore with special permission from Alfred Albert Al Gore, Environmental Activist, UN for Blog Display on 3 June, 2008… Details: http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/entry/giant_chunk_of_ice_collapses_in_antartica/
Saviourofforests is a registered user with http://www.wecansolveit.org --- We Can Solve The Climate Crisis)

WASHINGTON: A chunk of Antarctic ice seven times the size of Manhattan Island has suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, according to scientists.

Satellite images starting Feb. 28 show the runaway disintegration of a chunk covering 414 square kilometers, or 160 square miles. The ice was on the edge of the Wilkins Ice Shelf and had been there for possibly 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, David Vaughan, a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey, said Tuesday.

Because scientists noticed satellite images within hours, they diverted satellite cameras and even flew an airplane over the ongoing collapse for rare pictures and video.

"It's an event we don't get to see very often," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. "The cracks fill with water and slice off and topple. That gets to be a runaway situation."

While icebergs naturally break away from the mainland, collapses like this are unusual but are happening more frequently in recent decades, Vaughan said. The collapse is similar to what happens to hardened glass when it is smashed with a hammer, he explained.

The rest of the Wilkins Ice Shelf, which totals about 14,500 square kilometers, is holding on by a narrow beam of thin ice. Scientists worry that it, too, may collapse. Larger, more dramatic ice collapses occurred in 1995 and 2002.

There is still a chance the rest of the ice shelf will survive until next year, Vaughan said, because this is the end of the Antarctic summer and colder weather is setting in.

Scientists said that they were not concerned about a rise in sea level from the latest event but that it was a sign of worsening global warming.

Firefly (Direct pick up from Wikipedia, Taken with permission purely for blog display)

Lampyridae is a family in the beetle order Coleoptera, members of which are commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs or (ambiguously) "glow worms" due to their conspicuous nocturnal (or, more accurately, crepuscular) use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies are capable of producing a "cold light" containing no ultraviolet or infrared rays, with a wavelength from 510 to 670 nanometers, pale reddish, yellowish or green in color, with a lighting efficiency of up to 96%[1].

There are more than 2000 species of firefly found in temperate and tropical environments around the world. Many species can be found in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food.

Biology

Fireflies tend to be brown and soft-bodied, often with the elytra more leathery than in other beetles. Though the females of some species are similar in appearance to males, larviform females are found in many other firefly species. These females can often be distinguished from the larvae only because they have compound eyes. The most commonly known fireflies are nocturnal, though there are numerous species that are diurnal. Most diurnal species are non-luminescent, though some species that remain in shadowy areas can produce light.

A few days after mating, a female lays her fertilized eggs on or just below the surface of the ground. The eggs hatch 3-4 weeks later and the larva feed until the end of the summer. The larvae are commonly called glowworms, not to be confused with the distinct beetle family Phengodidae or fly genus Arachnocampa. Lampyrid larvae have simple eyes. The term glowworm is also used for both adults and larvae of species such as Lampyris noctiluca, the common European glowworm, in which only the non-flying adult females glow brightly and the flying males glow only very weakly and intermittently. Fireflies overwinter (some species for several years) during the larval stage. Some do this by burrowing underground, while others find places on or under the bark of trees. They emerge in the spring. After several weeks of feeding, they pupate for 1 to 2.5 weeks and emerge as adults. The larvae of most species are specialized predators and feed on other larvae, terrestrial snails, and slugs. Some are so specialized that they have grooved mandibles which deliver digestive fluids directly to their prey. The diet of adults is variable. It has been reported that some are predatory, while others feed on plant pollen or nectar.

Light production

Light production in fireflies is due to a chemical reaction that occurs in specialized light-emitting organs, usually on the lower abdomen. The enzyme luciferase acts on luciferin in this organ to stimulate light emission. Genes coding for these substances have been inserted into many different organisms (see Luciferase - Applications). Luciferase is also used in forensics, and the enzyme has medical uses.

For adult beetles, it is primarily used to locate other individuals of the same species for reproduction. Many species, especially in the genus Photinus, are distinguished by the unique courtship flash patterns emitted by flying males in search of females. Photinus females generally do not fly, but give a flash response to males of their own species.
Bioluminescence is a very efficient process. Some 90% of the energy a firefly uses to create light is actually converted into visible light. By comparison, an incandescent electric bulb can convert only 10 percent of total energy used into visible light, and the remainder is emitted as heat.

Tropical fireflies, particularly in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Malaysia), routinely synchronize their flashes among large groups, a startling example of spontaneous biological order. This phenomenon occurs through the night along river banks in the Malaysian jungles every day of the year. Current hypotheses about the causes of this behavior involve diet, social interaction, and altitude. In the United States, one of the most famous sightings of fireflies blinking in unison occurred near Elkmont, Tennessee in the Great Smoky Mountains during the second week of June 2005[1]. Congaree National Park in South Carolina is another host to the phenomenon [2].

Female Photuris fireflies are known for mimicking the mating flashes of other fireflies for the sole purpose of predation. Target males are attracted to what appears to be a suitable mate, and are then eaten. For this reason the Photuris female is sometimes referred to as "femme fatale".

Many fireflies do not produce light. Usually these species are diurnal, or day-flying, such as those in the genus Ellychnia. A few diurnal fireflies that primarily inhabit shadowy places, such as beneath tall plants or trees, are luminescent. One such genus is Lucidota.

All fireflies glow as larvae. Bioluminescence serves a different function in lampyrid larvae than it does in adults. It appears to be a warning signal to predators, since many firefly larvae contain chemicals that are distasteful or toxic.

Systematics

Firefly systematics, as with many insects, are in a constant state of flux, as new species continue to be discovered. The five subfamilies listed above are the most commonly accepted ones, though others such as the Amydetinae and Psilocladinae have been proposed. This was mainly done in an attempt to revise the Lampyrinae, which by and by had become something of a "wastebin taxon" to hold incertae sedis species and genera of fireflies. Other changes are occasionally proposed, such as merging the Ototetrinae into the Luciolinae, but the arrangement used here appears to be the most frequently-seen and stable layout, at least for the time being.

Fireflies and humans

Fireflies were a part of ancient Mayan mythology, often being associated with the stars. Further, they were associated with cigar smoking and may have had at least one representative in the pantheon of Mayan gods (Lopes 2004).

In East Asia, the ancient Chinese sometimes captured fireflies in transparent or semi-transparent containers and used them as (short-term) lanterns[citation needed]. Some species of the genus Luciola (hotaru, 蛍) rival the famous sakura cherry blossoms as regards their significance in Japanese culture and folklore[citation needed].

The Pennsylvania Firefly (Photuris pennsylvanica) is the state insect of Pennsylvania, and the Common Eastern Firefly (Photinus pyralis) one of the state insects of Tennessee. At one point, Indiana seriously considered making the State's insect a firefly, but the legislature never put the measure to a vote.

The spectacular synchronized flashing by Pteroptyx and other Luciolinae fireflies has potential economic significance. Notably on the Selangor River at Kampong Kuantan (close to Kuala Selangor, Malaysia), it has become a major attraction for tourists which create considerable revenue.

References

^ Firefly / Lightning Bug - Photuris lucicrescens. Retrieved on 2008-06-28.
• http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/hotaru-net/. A site about Japanese aquatic firefly habits, life-history, biology, resources, and activities.
• http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/hotaru-net/photo/firefly.html
• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi
• http://www.iisc.ernet.in/academy/resonance/Sept2002/pdf/Sept2002p49-55.pdf
• Branham, M. A., and J. W. Wenzel. 2003. The origin of photic behavior and the evolution of sexual communication in fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae). Cladistics 19: 1-22.
• Lopes, Luís. 2004. Some notes on fireflies. Mesoweb. http://www.mesoweb.com/features/lopes/Fireflies.pdf
• Stous, Hollend. 1997. A review of predation in Photuris, and its effects on the evolution of flash signaling in other New World fireflies. http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Entomology/courses/en507/papers_1997/stous.html
• http://www.fireflies.tk . A site about the Firefly meeting 2007 in Portugal and information on fireflies in general.
• http://pirilampos-lightalive.blogspot.com/. A site about bioluminescence and Firefly project in Portugal.

A Sad Story: Destruction Of Another Forest Zone Of Interest: Please Forward This To Your Friends To Raise Awareness

A Sad Story: Destruction Of Another Forest Zone Of Interest: Please Forward This To Your Friends To Raise Awareness

From Balakrishnan Valappil <balakrishnan_ valappil@yahoo.com>

To Yahoo Hope Thane Group Members and butterflyindia@yahoogroups.com

Hi friends

Palaparamba is a typical hill top near my house, just five minutes walk away! It is above 400 ft from MSL and around 40 km from the west coast and the same distance away from Western Ghats. It is a private land of extend less than 2 hectares; there are cashew nut plants amidst open and bushy land the flora and fauna diversity is very interesting, especially insects. I am a regular visitor here since the last three years. Apart from the common butterflies I have sighted are Silver streaked blue ciliate, blue and redspot (M&F) here regularly and I haven’t seen these butterflies elsewhere. Some of other species to be mentioned are Buddha peacock, Short banded sailor, Chestnut steaked sailor, Blue admiral, Southern birdwing, and at least three types of lineblues, blackvein, sergeant, peacock royal, WC and Manytailed oakblue, White banded owl and a Common tinsel (to be confirmed). I will be posting a complete checklist soon; the most interesting thing is that I have seen fresh specimens of all the butterflies mentioned and hence could be assumed that they are born here. A ciliate blue sighting chance is 75% on anyday on the calendar. Between August and December I can guarantee the sighting of Blue admiral, WC oakblue, Buddha peacock and all the three sailors here are high.

But the most saddening part of the story is that as many of the hundreds of such hilltops in our district Palaparamba is also under threat an approach road is already constructed and surveying and markings are in progress to convert it into a housing project and within a couple of years the fauna and flora will be lost forever. In Kerala, majority of insects breed in such pristine locations which are basically private lands and were of no economical importance till a couple of years ago and they were safe to some extent due to that matter of fact that now laterite quarrying, housing projects, other institutions like hospitals, schools, colleges, IT parks are built in lieu of wonderful fauna and flora. There is considerable awareness and conservation on the part of wildlife in the forested lands but as far as I know there is nothing done to protect these uncared biodiversity. My question to the members from Kerala is how often you have sighted Ciliate blue, Redspot and Silver streak blue in the reserve forests? (Dr Unni, Dr Kalesh, Rafeek and others please respond) the answers will decide the importance of the matter. Not square kilometers but square meters that matter as far as butterflies are concerned. Can anyone help tracing the larva plant and hence larvae of the above mentioned butterflies?

Attached pictures are shots from a recent visit to Palaparamba.

Help ID the Line blue other butterfly links on my stream all from Palaparamba peacock royal

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 760342851/budha peacock

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1490190054/Imperial

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2552726909/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2552727017/manytailedoakblue

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1797804209/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1797794137/redspot

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1523117205/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1616548060/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 746904897/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 746904909/silverstreak blue

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 693955223/wcoakblue

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1690054061/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 693955247/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1467545259/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2043427250/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2181671183/commonleopard

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1672597594/blue admiral

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1025754644/lascar

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1050426385/yeomon and rustic

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 630223807/jezebel

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1797941929/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1797941921/birdwing

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 1345924306/

Some other insects sighted on June 22, 2008

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2614605753/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2615431184/ hitlerbugsmating

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2614601629/

http://www.flickr. com/photos/ balakrishnan_ valappil/ 2614601851/

All these links are to demonstrate the biodiversity of Palaparamba

--

Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

--

Regards

Rajesh Sachdev

Wild Mumbai Nature Conservation

--

"The tiger cannot be preserved in isolation. It is at the apex of a

large and complex biotope. Its habitat, threatened by human intrusion,

commercial forestry, and cattle grazing, must first be made

inviolate." - Mrs. Indira Gandhi

Napoleons Fatal Ruso Expedition

Charles Minard's Carte figurative (1869), which details the losses of men, the position of the army, and the freezing temperatures on Napoleon's disastrous 1812 invasion of Russia. Created in an effort to show the horrors of war, the graph "defies the pen of the historian in its brutal eloquence" and has been called the best statistical graphic ever drawn.

Photo In The News: Mars Lander Finds Ice, NASA Says

Fig: Ice on Mars - lander photo

Photo In The News: Mars Lander Finds
Ice, NASA Says

Associated Press, By John Antczak

June 20, 2008

Ice on Mars - lander photo

June 20, 2008—Before-and-after photos taken by NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander show "perfect evidence" of water ice on Mars, according to Peter Smith, the mission's principal investigator, in a statement released Thursday.

The dice-size crumbs of bright material seen in the bottom left corner of the so-called Snow White trench in the left image, taken June 15, appear to have vanished by the time the right image was taken, on June 19.

Scientists are convinced the material was frozen water that vaporized after the lander's robotic arm dug up the material.

"There had been some question whether the bright material was salt," Smith, of the University of Arizona, said. "Salt can't do that."

Phoenix is studying whether the Mars's arctic region could be suitable for life as we know it—a key ingredient of which is water.

More recently, Phoenix's arm encountered a hard surface on Thursday while digging another trench. The arm went into a "holding position" after three attempts to dig further, which is expected when the arm reaches a hard surface, NASA said.

Scientists, who hope to uncover an icy layer, have dubbed the newer trench Snow White 2, in keeping with the Phoenix team's practice of using names from fairy tales and mythology to designate features at the lander's "Wonderland" site.

In 2002 the Mars Odyssey orbiter had detected hints of a vast store of ice below the surface of Mars's polar regions.

The arctic terrain where Phoenix touched down has polygon shapes in the ground similar to those found in Earth's permafrost regions. The patterns on Earth are caused by seasonal expansion and shrinking of underground ice.

Images from AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

Oh, Barn The Superstition! It's Just A Harmless Owl

Oh, Barn The Superstition! It's Just A Harmless Owl

Daily News and Analysis, By Ashwin Aghor

June 21, 2008

Experts say though the bird is thriving in the city, it faces threat as it consumes rodents killed with poison

The next time you spot a pair of eyes glowing in the dark or hear a sinister hoot, don’t be alarmed. It’s just your friendly neighbourhood barn owl, which bird experts say is thriving in the city.

“If the number of distress calls received for bird rescue are any indication, there is no doubt that barn owl population in the city has increased. The majority of the calls are for the rescue of injured juvenile as well as adult barn owls,” said Adesh Shivkar, bird expert.

The large quantity of garbage generated in the city every day attracts rodents, which are the main prey of barn owls.

The bird got its name because of its adaptability to living close to human settlements. “Even in the United Kingdom, the bird is found in barns, abandoned castles,” Shivkar said. However, despite a consistent growth in its population, barn owl is facing severe threats.

Contradicting superstitions shroud all types of owls in general. Some people consider the bird a bad omen and kill it the moment it is spotted. “On the other hand, it is considered to be the vehicle of goddess Lakshmi. There is a need to educate people to protect the bird, by telling them that getting rid of the bird is akin to getting rid of wealth,” Shivkar says. “There is a general belief that barn owl claws bring prosperity to the person who possesses them. A considerable chunk of people in the city believe in superstitions,” said naturalist Sunjoy Monga.

Recently, in the Mantralaya when an owl was seen on a painting frame on sixth floor, news spread like wildfire and people started speculating about fate of the chief minister himself as his office is on the same floor.

Though domesticating the owl is illegal, many people keep the bird as a pet and even supply them to Bollywood and tantriks.

Another threat the bird is facing is rat poison. “Rodents being their main prey, many times owls eat rats killed with poison, which proves fatal for the bird, too,” said Anand Pendharkar, founder director of Sprouts, an institution working for the environment.

There is a great deal of misbelief about the hissing sound made by the barn owls. “It is the defence mechanism of most of the birds which nest in tree hollows or holes in walls. On sensing danger, the juvenile birds emulate the hissing sound of a snake,” Shivkar said.

The rescue calls for the bird are the maximum during winter, the breeding season of the owls. “In majority of cases, it lands in wrong hands due to superstitions,” said Sunish Subramanian of Plant and Animal Welfare Society, Mumbai.

a_ashwin@dnaindia.net