Guwahati, June 25 -- A new species of swallowtail butterfly, the Chinese rose windmill (Papilio genestieri), has been recorded in India for the first time during a recent high-altitude butterfly survey in the Shi-Yomi district of Arunachal Pradesh.

The species, previously known from Yunnan and Sichuan in China, as well as parts of Laos and northern Vietnam, was photographed on May 31 in Mechukha. The discovery marks the first official documentation of the species within Indian territory.

The survey was conducted by a team comprising Monsoon J Gogoi and Yumlam Benjamin Bida from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Tajum Yomcha, Research Officer from the Itanagar office of the PCCF, and Duyir Buni Yedi, T...