Polyura eudamippus (Great nawab) - Sikkim Butterfly

Scientific classification

Kingdom:             Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                    Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                 Nymphalidae

Genus:                  Polyura

Species:                 P. eudamippus

Binomial name:    Polyura eudamippus (Doubleday, 1843)

Other Names:  great nawab

Special feature:   This species can be found in northeastern India (Sikkim, Assam), Bhutan, and Burma, also in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indochina. (Wikipedia)

Poritia hewitsoni (Common Gem - male) - Sikkim Butterfly

Scientific classification

Kingdom:             Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                    Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                 Lycaenidae

Genus:                  Poritia

Species:                 P. hewitsoni

Binomial name:    Poritia hewitsoni (Moore, 1865)

Other Names:  Common Gem

Special feature:  The members (species) of this genus are found in the Indomalaya ecozone extending from Afghanistan through the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia to lowland southern China, and through Indonesia as far as Java, Bali, and Borneo, east of which lies the Wallace line, the ecozone boundary named after Alfred Russel Wallace which separates Indomalaya from Australasia. Indomalaya also includes the Philippines, lowland Taiwan, and Japan's Ryukyu Islands. (Wikipedia)

Erebus ephesperis - Sikkim Moth

Scientific Classification

Kingdom:            Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                    Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                 Erebidae

Subfamily:           Erebinae

Tribe:                   Erebini

Genus:                  Erebus

Species:                 E. ephesperis

Binomial name:    Erebus ephesperis (Hübner, 1827)

Other Names:

Special feature:  It has a wingspan of about 9 cm.

China rose (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)- Sikkim Flora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Plantae

Family:           Malvaceae

Genus:            Hibiscus

Species:           H. rosa-sinensis

Binomial name: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.

Other Names:  China rose

Special feature:  It is the most widely used flower in laboratory experiments by scholars and universities to study floral characteristics.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was named by Carolus Linnaeus. The Latin term rosa-sinensis literally means "rose of China", though it is not closely related to the true roses.

Ixias pyrene (Yellow Orange Tip) - Sikkim Butterfly

Scientific classification

Kingdom:             Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                    Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                 Pieridae

Genus:                  Ixias

Species:                 I. pyrene

Binomial name:    Ixias pyrene (Linnaeus 1764)

Other Names:  Yellow Orange Tip

Special feature:  This species is most common among the genus Ixias. They are ten species in numbers. 

Papilio memnon (Great Mormon) - Sikkim Butterfly

Place: Rongli, East Sikkim (March 8, 2015) Pic: Shital Pradhan

Kingdom:            Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                   Insecta

Order:                 Lepidoptera

Family:               Papilionidae

Genus:                 Papilio

Species:                P. memnon

Binomial name:  Papilio memnon Linnaeus (1758)

MORE ON GENUS PAPILIO

Pericrocotus speciosus (Scarlet minivet - male) - Sikkim Bird

Pericrocotus speciosus (Scarlet minivet - male)

Place : Shantinagar, Singtam, East Sikkim

Date: January 23, 2015

Pic: Shital Pradhan

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Animalia

Phylum:          Chordata

Class:             Aves

Order:            Passeriformes

Family:           Campephagidae

Genus:            Pericrocotus

Species:           P. speciosus

Binomial name: Pericrocotus speciosus Latham, 1790

Other Names:  Scarlet Minivet

Special feature:  While the male of most subspecies are scarlet to orange with black upper parts, the females are usually yellow with greyish olive upper parts.

There are 13 species found in this genus:

    Rosy minivet,                                                          Pericrocotus roseus

    Swinhoe's minivet or brown-rumped minivet,        Pericrocotus cantonensis

    Ashy minivet,                                                          Pericrocotus divaricatus

    Ryukyu minivet,                                                     Pericrocotus tegimae

    Small minivet,                                                         Pericrocotus cinnamomeus

    Fiery minivet,                                                          Pericrocotus igneus

    Little minivet,                                                         Pericrocotus lansbergei

    White-bellied minivet,                                            Pericrocotus erythropygius

    Grey-chinned minivet,                                            Pericrocotus solaris

    Long-tailed minivet,                                               Pericrocotus ethologus

    Short-billed minivet,                                               Pericrocotus brevirostris

    Sunda minivet,                                                        Pericrocotus miniatus

    Scarlet minivet,                                                       Pericrocotus speciosus

    Orange minivet,                                                      Pericrocotus flammeus

Erebus macrops (Owl Moth) - Sikkim Moth

Erebus macrops  (Owl Moth)

Place : Shantinagar, Singtam, East Sikkim

Date: January 23, 2015

Pic: Shital Pradhan

Scientific classification

Kingdom:             Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                    Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                 Noctuidae

Genus:                  Erebus

Species:                 E. macrops

Binomial name:    Erebus macrops Linnaeus, 1768

Other Names: Owl Moth

Special feature:  It is one of a large moth of  Noctuidae species and its wingspan is 12 cm.

There  are 36 species of moth in the genus.

Pycnonotus cafer (Red-vented Bulbul) - Sikkim Bird

Pycnonotus cafer (Red-vented Bulbul)

Venue: Sungdung, Rongli, East Sikkim

Date: January 5, 2014

Pic: Swarup Rai

Scientific classification

Kingdom:       Animalia

Phylum:          Chordata

Class:             Aves

Order:            Passeriformes

Family:           Pycnonotidae

Genus:            Pycnonotus

Species:           P. cafer

Binomial name: Pycnonotus cafer (Linnaeus, 1766)

Other Names:  red-vented bulbul

Special feature:  It is included in the list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species.