This time, the emphasis will be on butterflies. I have been breeding them on a small scale when I was living at the beach community of Sri Ma. Now, here in Fertile Field, we plan to plant 10 acres for the butterfly garden with food plants for the larvae and with plants that attract butterflies. Research done in 1995 by Ms. Aditi Pai showed that there were 55 species of butterflies living in Auroville, against 49 in Puthupet, a forest nearby Auroville which still has the original shrub jungle of this area. Now it is well known that certain insects, especially Butterflies and Moths, are particularly suited as biological indicators.
Biological indicators are organisms, which are very sensitive to their environment.
This is manifested by their 'performances' in their habitat. Their very presence or absence, or their number, is a good indication of state of the environment. Other areas are unsuitable for the indigenous butterfly population because the flora is partly exotic. The afforestation efforts attempt to change all that, and I hope the species variety will drastically grow once the indigenous food shrubs and trees mature. The butterflies seen in Auroville are among the most common species of India.