catching the vividly coloured butterflies as they flutter from one flower to other in a quest for nectar has been an essential part of almost all of our childhood some people though carry on this fascination into their adulthood as they shuttle across the city in pursuit of these tiny winged wonders armed with a camera in hand and this hobby is totally justified as india is one of the 17 megadiverse countries of the world which hosts a spectacular 1800 species and subspecies approximately butterflies about 1520 of these are endemic to the indian region which makes it imperical for the populace to study butterfly diversity and work for its conservation butterflies are also good indicators of environmental changes as they are sensitive to habitat degradation and climate changesbutterflying as a hobby has been picking up pace in the city of lakes some groups from bhopal have been actively sharing information on social media about butterflies found in and around the city members also share information like name species as well as common location of a said winged wonder through their social media handles till date they have managed to share about 67 pictures of types of butterflies found in and around bhopal anil gulati who clicks and manages one such page on these winged wonders says these lovely creatures detest heat so the soaring temperatures have actually pushed them into shady locales which are hidden by thick growth however one can always see them flitting from one wild flower to other early in the morning when it is relatively pleasant bhopal has good flora which harbours number of butterflies though numbers may be diminishing as concrete is replacing many beautiful sights even then these winged wonders can be witnessed around the greener and colourful locales gulati maintains we had a very short spring season this year the multihued butterflies could be seen fluttering around the seasonal flowers and mostly lantana they will return in full glory with the return of monsoon when the city will be cloaked in green again as the word spread many youngsters have come forward to join these groups for capturing these winged wonders tashi verma a 21yearold commerce graduate shares i tried capturing a few during early spring when flowers were in full bloom but now im unable to find many after my graduation exams i am going to resume this activity in the summer break saptaparnabiswastimesgroupcompics anil gulati