Indicator Species

The first photo here is one of the species that are sensitive to the forest health, and are not considered common to other areas of Vietnam. Its name is Ragadia Crisilda, the common name is Striped Ringlet. Notice how its colors and spots are prominent. The spots can be used as camouflage as the spots resemble eyes of other large insect or even small mammals.

The second photo is Neope Muirheadi. We have had a lot of success during the observation time of the project. We have observed a total of 83 species - actually more than this time last year.

The third photo pictured is Stichophthalm howqua, another indicator species.

Dr. Vu (Lien) presented his material for publication in the Biodiversity and Conservation journal - in it he describes the research and the transects involved in data collection. Two years have passed since this publication and much more data has been collected to support the theories Dr. Vu proposed in the project. You may view photos of Lien's butterflies on his website.

The four species specific as indicators for this study are
1. Ragadia crisilda (pictured)
2. Neope muirheadi (pictured)
3. Stichophthalm howqua (pictured)
4. Mycalesis misensus (NOT pictured)