The Hindu Business Line : TNAU setting up butterfly park at Vandalur

The Hindu Business Line : TNAU setting up butterfly park at Vandalur: "TNAU setting up butterfly park at Vandalur

Our Bureau

Coimbatore, March 5 The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) Coimbatore is to set up a butterfly garden with insect museum at the Arignar Anna Zoological Park at Vandalur in Chennai.

Being promoted under a scheme of the Tamil Nadu Government’s Department of Tourism and Culture, the proposed butterfly garden will have a host of plants and habitats landscaped (such as bushes, lianas, streams, waterfall, rock-gardens) to facilitate exhibiting butterflies in their natural settings.
Host plants

It will also have larval and adult host plants to maintain various stages of the butterflies. The garden will have a network of ponds interconnected by streams to maintain humidity in the area and have suitable amenities for the visitors including resting places and counters selling theme pamphlets, curios, models/charts/paints of butterflies.

The move is aimed at conserving nature.
Insect species

According to Dr R. Samiyappan, Director, Centre for Plant Protection Studies, TNAU, the insect museum to come up at the entrance of the garden, will have common Indian species of all insects in the form of preserved specimens and photographs and have an art gallery that will depict images of Indian butterflies including those of endangere"