Flitting from one beauty to another

Butterflies Of Sri Lanka For Children by Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala. Reviewed by Goolbai Gunasekara

Nature gives us many gifts but in each person’s life there is one magic moment, the image of which remains in memory forever. Such a moment was mine when I was 7 years old, playing cricket with a childhood friend, Aubrey Jansz , on a by-road off Bambalapitiya.

“I’ll bat. Can you throw a ball?” he asked in lordly fashion.

Common Jezebel. Pic by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne

“Yes.” I was humble in the presence of such sports superiority.

One ball was bowled (sorry, ‘thrown’) but before Aubrey could thwack it over the house into the next garden, we had to stop play in mid-swipe so to speak for unexpectedly,with mesmerizing suddenness there appeared at the end of the path, a golden ball rolling inexorably towards us. Within minutes we were enveloped in clouds of yellow. In retrospect, Wordsworth’s words on Daffodils, ‘fluttering and dancing in the breeze’ are the best description of those thrilling 20 minutes when hordes of these airy, seemingly ephemeral creatures, swarmed about our enchanted selves before rising over the dark leaves of a Mara tree in front of their path and vanishing from view. It was magic.

No one could tell me anything about the phenomenon.

“On their way to Samanala Kanda’” said our prosaic driver……. Alas, no one believed him. It so happens he was quite right although at the time my father dismissed the driver’s verdict as romantic nonsense. But it was only when I opened Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala’s fascinating book “Butterflies of Sri Lanka for Children” that I found our poor driver’s pronouncement vindicated at last for right there, on page 24, lay my answer.

Lacewing. Pic by Prasantha Paranagama

“During April and May” ran the text, “there is a spectacular movement of Lemon Emigrants up on to Adam’s Peak, also called Samanala Kanda which means Butterfly Hill in Sinhala. People believe these butterflies go, with pilgrims, to pay homage to Lord Buddha.” Another instance where legend and fact meet.

For a non-scientist to review a book of so obviously a scientific nature may seem a trifle strange. It is this very reason that makes me suitable for the job. For if an Arts oriented being can find its pages fascinating so will all others who read it. Another reason for this review is that I have always been a great, albeit distant admirer, of the erudite Miththapalas…father, mother and also a brother whose expertise on elephants has occasionally caused him to really wonder how it is possible for a Principal of a school to ask the kind of silly questions that I do.

“Butterflies….” is mainly for children but adults who want to know something of a subject (of which there is precious little written ) will find that within its covers there is much informative and artistic satisfaction to be gained.

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne’s photographs illustrating the book are simply lovely. They must have taken years to collect and each one is a work of art.

See a black and white ‘Tree Nymph’ highlighted against dark foliage or a ‘Plain Tiger’ with outspread wings posed against a mass of light green leaves. These are pictures a child will never forget and it is for children that Dr. Miththapala has written this book.

It is simply phrased and therefore easily absorbed. The wealth of information is made easily digestible by the addition of little stories and legends connected with several butterflies. ‘Jezebel’ for example has been so named with the Bible seductress in mind and it is well named indeed for the alluring colours of its wings must surely have been Jezebel’s choice of attire. And did you know that the ‘Lace Wing” is poisonous? In fact did anyone know that there exist poisonous butterflies at all?

From the point of view of a teacher I would confidently tell Librarians of schools and all Institutes of Learning to add copies of ‘Butterflies….’ to their shelves. It is instructive without being boring. It is colourfully and highly attractively laid out. It contains a wealth of information presented in an interest-catching manner. Dr. Miththapala well understands the mind of a child. As a former Principal of Ladies’ College one may expect this but Principals of schools do not necessarily find it easy to reach down into the minds of juniors and even middle schoolers. In addition to having this enviable ability, Dr. Miththapala’s awesome academic attainments place her in a category of scholar who would cater to the most erudite students in Universities. As a Smithsonian Research Associate, her publications range from scientific papers to articles and books on Natural History. It is her belief that in the writing of books aimed at children she is furthering the cause of ecological conservation for as she says, “Children are excellent Ambassadors of conservation education.”

From a personal point of view, I find that ‘Butterflies of Sri Lanka for Children” will make wonderful Prize Books for little scholars of any school so excuse me while I rush out and buy up a dozen copies of what (I’m told) is a limited supply.

‘Butterflies of Sri Lanka’ takes wing

By Dhananjani Silva

'Butterflies of Sri Lanka for Children' by Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala was launched on Thursday, September 28, at The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies. The chief guest for the event was renowned actress and Irangani Serasinghe, founder member of Ruk Rakaganno and also member of numerous other conservation groups.

The event began with the ceremonial lighting of the traditional oil lamp by Mrs. Serasinghe, the Chairman Singer Sri Lanka Hemaka Amarasooriya, (Singer being the main sponsors of the event), Coordinator Asia Regional Species Programme, The World Conservation (IUCN) Dr. Channa Bambaradeniya and Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala.

The author presenting a book to her father.

Delivering the keynote address Dr. Bambaradeniya said that Dr. Miththapala hailing from a family of ardent naturalists, contributes immensely towards environmental and biology conservation playing multiple roles; as an active environmentalist, researcher, illustrator, initiator of many projects and visiting lecturer in many universities on environmental related subjects.

One-third of Sri Lanka's butterflies are threatened due to reasons such as loss of habitat, pollution, over collection etc, he said, adding that there was a need to raise awareness on the issue. "There are no publications on butterflies targeting children, so this book will generate an interest on butterflies among children," he said.

Dr. Miththapala too said that her purpose in writing 'Butterflies of Sri Lanka for Children' is to promote a child's interest in butterflies and by doing so to be a part of wild life conservation.

Commenting about the book, Mrs. Serasinghe said that besides the simple language in which it is written, the layouts and illustrations are remarkable. "This is a must read for children," she said.

"It is a wonderful thing that Singer Sri Lanka has come into the forefront in an event of this nature. I was surprised that a corporate body is interested in such an aspect, especially about butterflies," she said.