A butterfly released in Japan’s Toyama Prefecture was found in Penghu County about 2,277km away after traveling for 46 days, becoming the first from the region to be recorded leaving Japan’s national borders.
The specimen was part of a nationwide research project to study the habits of Japan’s blue tiger butterflies, the Kitanippon Shimbun reported on Sunday last week.
Blue tigers in Japan and Southeast Asia are known to migrate long distances when the weather changes, but their specific travel routes are not well documented.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Identified by a code written on one of its wings, the butterfly likely drifted to Penghu on air currents, the project’s lead researcher at the Toyama Science Museum told the newspaper.
“It is rare for them to fly this far,” the researcher said.
The research team captured and released the butterfly in Japan on Sept. 25, the museum said.
It was found 46 days later on Nov. 10 by a Penghu resident who wrote about the discovery on Facebook, it added.
A museum representative said that the butterfly’s wings had regrettably shown signs of damage.
The second-greatest distance was recorded by a blue tiger that was released in Wakayama Prefecture and discovered in Hong Kong, 2,500km away. Given that Toyama’s distance north of Wakayama is greater than the distance from Penghu to Hong Kong, a new record was set, the paper reported.
A previous record-holder was found in Okinawa, about 2,000km from its release point.
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