By Nishanth Srinivas
With the two lockdowns, the world understood the importance of urban green spaces and nature in their backyards. More people, with access to private green spaces, reported spending time in nature. My story is no different as I spent the second lockdown at my new workplace, an NGO called Conservation Initiatives, in Upper Lachaumiere, Shillong, about a hundred metres from the Laitkor reserve forest that is part of a larger green space known as the Upper Shillong Forest, girdling along the southern limits of the Shillong agglomeration.
A lush garden surrounds our quaint office space. Oak, Thuja, Jacaranda and Bottle brush trees, along with tall shrubs of Duranta, Melastoma, and English Ivy, among others, are found.
The garden is always in bloom with many native plants, including the popular exotic ones. In some sense, it is a tiny island of green in the city. I was enthralled by the diverse and interesting small creatures I got to see – each unique species that share among them, a common ability to thrive in Shillong.
From the widespread to the critically endangered, here is a list of species I saw:
Asian cabbage white
(Pieris canidia indica): This small, greyish-white butterfly with prominent black spots is found in higher elevation areas -between 600 and 3350 m above sea level. It is distributed in the sub-Himalayan region, with different subspecies found elsewhere in India. It shows increased wing melanism or dark pigmentation, which changes with respect to elevation and season, aiding it to survive in a cold place like Shillong, as darker wings warm up quickly. The caterpillar of this butterfly feeds on plants belonging to the Brassicaceae or mustard family members, the reason behind its name.
Red-vented bulbul
(Pycnonotus cafer): Known as Paitpuraw in Khasi, this bird is widespread in Shillong and India, and is usually associated with open forests, gardens, and orchards. A discerning feature of this blackish-brown bird is its crimson-coloured feathers under its tail, which gives it its name. Most species related to this bird also have this feature, used for threat display and during courtship rituals. The bulbul feeds mostly on fruits and small insects. A pair of birds regularly visited our garden to feed on the bright red fruits of a non-native garden plant called Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum). It contains an alkaloid called Solanocapsine, said to be poisonous, yet did not affect these birds – clearly adapting to live close to human habitations.
Bumblebee
(Bombus albopleuralis): This bumblebee is found in a wide elevation range in Northeast India. Bumblebees are typically black and yellow coloured, which serves as a warning colouring. This species also has long white setae or hair on its sides, making it unique. They’ve adapted to the cold climate, producing their own body heat, the reason they’re found at higher elevations than other bee species, giving them a head start to make use of food resources during the short warm periods. They serve as an important pollinator of many plant species in the region.
Arrowhead flatworm
(Bipalium sp.): It is a species of terrestrial flatworms that are active after a rainy day. Their hunting technique is really interesting. With its scanner-like head, this striped, brown flatworm prowls for the unsuspecting earthworms and slugs, given they also emerge after the rains. On finding the trail of an earthworm, for instance, the flatworm crawls up towards its head. It uses its head and body and caps the anterior portion of the earthworm, then extrudes its throat out, found strangely in the middle of its body, and swallows the earthworm headfirst. It also releases a neurotoxin called Tetrodotoxin, which quickly paralyses and subdues the earthworm, making it easy to swallow (see featured picture at the top).
Shillong Bush frog
(Raorchestes shillongensis): During the rainy season, our Shillong gardens echo with the ‘tick’ ‘tick’ calls of this tiny bush frog, which is no bigger than a large raindrop. Being critically endangered, this frog species is restricted to a 530 square kilometre area in the Shillong plateau and is present between an elevation of 1000 to 1900 m above sea level. Being a forest edge species, it is often found near the edge of wooded areas, including human habitation. During the breeding season, the male frogs clamber onto the short bushes and fervently call to catch the attention of the female. Once a fertile female chooses a male, the pair descends into the leaf litter on the ground. Post mating, the female mixes the egg with moist soil to prevent them from drying. Their development is direct as they skip the swimming tadpole stage and hatch out as tiny fully formed frogs after a month’s incubation.
Joro spider
(Trichonephila clavata): This spider belongs to the genus of orb-weaver spiders, known for making big spider webs. They derive their name from a mythical creature in Japanese folklore called Jorōgumo, believed to possess the power to shape-shift into a human to lure and bind them in silk. The females can grow as big as 32mm. Newly hatched spiderlings of this spider species can balloon or kite and climb to a high point to release silk threads to catch the wind and drift like small kites. This causes them to become airborne, at the mercy of air currents. Though they’re unable to control where they land, the spiderlings can disperse over short and vast distances alike.
Flat-tailed house gecko
(Hemidactylus platyurus): This arboreal species of gecko is found in south and southeast Asia in both urban and forested areas. This (mostly) grey lizard has a flat tail fringed with loose skin and colourful markings on its body. They usually hid in crevasses of the windows and tree bark by day and are active at night, waiting by the fluorescent lights to catch moths, making their presence felt with mute clicking noises. This genus of geckos is reported to be mostly insectivorous, but has been observed to also consume discarded food like boiled rice, cucumber, and fried egg. This opportunistic feeding strategy enables them to colonise urban areas.
Eurasian tree sparrow
(Passer montanus): A widespread bird species, they are found in open woodland, farmland, and urban areas, and are called Sim Khar in Khasi. Unlike the House sparrow, tree sparrows are smaller. The males have brown heads and black cheeks with a white-collar. Pairs of these birds would forage among the gladioli and daisies in the window box planter of our office and glean for insects in the shrubs and creepers. During cold mornings, the birds would sunbathe on tin roofs, with their feathers all fluffed up and flattened so they could warm faster. These sparrows are adept at surviving in this hill city, which is 1500m above sea level.