DUBAI: In what is considered a rare occurrence, the white-edged rock brown butterflies were recently spotted in the Jebel Jais mountains of Ras Al Khaimah.
Prominent birder and wildlife specialist at Dubai Safari Park Dr Reza Khan told Gulf News, “I was very lucky to have found not one, but four, specimens of this butterfly in one location and a fifth one in another location of the Jebel Jais mountains recently.”
He said they were found at elevations of 1,200-1,250 metres above sea level in a concreted area used by tourists.
“The area had man-made structures, shaded areas, some sandy patches and lots of gravel. Some ornamental indigenous and exotic trees and shrubs planted there had a drip irrigation system. I watched the butterflies between 8am and 1pm over four days when temperatures soared between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius. At times, it was breezy and cloudy,” he recalled.
Dr Khan said this species of the butterfy, according to scientists, depends on shaded micro-environments.
“During my observations, I found they were virtually in dry parking lots with some planted trees and shrubs watered sparingly. All were found on the ground having stone tiles or pebbles and sand, or other man-made rock walls and wooden benches with steel frames. Only once during a misty and breezy morning, I saw one of the butterflies resting on a tree branch at a height of 3 metres or so from the ground. As the parking lot plants are irrigated in the morning, some plant bases as well as surrounding areas retain water or moisture at least for an hour or so,” he recounted.
Although the white-edged brown butterfly is common on the Omani side of the border at higher elevations such as the Ruus Al Jibal, there was no record yet of the specimen being photographed on the UAE side in Jabel Jais or Jebel Hafeet, Dr Khan said.
He said the butterflies sighted by him were seen moving over little pebbles, probing the sandy habitat with their proboscis and trying to sieve moisture.
“Once I found one butterfly resting on the lower part of a rusty steel frame of a bench. Due to rust. the frame surface was uneven and even had tiny depressions or holes. The butterfly meticulously moved on the rusty part. At a certain stage, it appeared that it was licking something from within.”
It emerged from his subsequent enquiries with a butterfly expert in Bangladesh, Professor Md. Monwar Hossain, that butterflies living in arid environments lack minerals and certain other basic elements such as calcium, potassium and water. “As such, the butterflies in Jebel Jais could have looking for moisture to supplement water,” Dr Khan said.
He added that Binish Roobas, a butterfly expert, who has co-authored the UAE Butterfly book, has confirmed the identity of the species sighted in Jebel Jais.
