This is visual diary which goes back in the year 2001, when I was a student of eighth standards in Baranagar Ramakrishna Mission. I still feel very proud to be an alumni of the institution, since it taught many a things outside the bookish knowledge to a student of 14 years of age.
Swami Vivekananda said, "You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita." Thus it was obvious for the students of RKM to become a man more likely qualified for a better society and a better India. Early stages of stewardship starts with learning and following the narrations of teachers and parents. Since, I believe, teachers play a major role in building the society, thus to be a nature and wildlife photographer, building blocks had to be made by the teachers like Subhas Mukhopadhya and Dibya Jasobardhan Roy.
Thus, today's me would have been very different unless guided by those builders. Back to the topic now. It was late December of 2001, when like every year Swami Bidhanananda allowed us to organize interscholastic science exhibition. The exhibition was on for 1 week, the timing for this exhibition was from 10am in the morning to 5pm in the evening. Fifteen groups took part from Biology department, where each group consisted of not more than two students. In my group, I was accompanied by my friend at that time Subhojit Ghosh. Though most of the charts and diagrams was done by me single handedly. Pardon!
Below are the in details, what we presented in that annual science exhibition -
"Mimicry is a special type of defensive adaptation. It is a physiological characteristics by virtue of which animals and trees mimic the structure, color and/or behavior of other living beings and/or materials. Broadly we can distinguish the characteristics of mimical forms in two segments -
- Protective Mimicry
- Aggressive Mimicry
Protective Mimical Structures are common through out the forests of Indian and Tibetan Himalayas and all over the world; whereas Aggressive Mimical structures are rarely seen and found only in few places of Europe. Many specimen of examples can be seen through the river valley of Congo and Zaire.
Protective mimicry can be further classified in two other forms -
<i> Concealing Mimicry - Kallima Butterfly, Walking leaf etc.
<ii> Warning Mimicry - Asisaema
Aggressive Mimical Stuctures are found in few species of spiders from Europe, where they roost in the branches of trees as bird poops. That is why no birds or other animals pay attention to feed on these insects.
Phyllium:
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| Phyllium Scythe |
Phyllium Scythe is an insect which falls under phylum arthropoda. Its head and thorax are very tiny compared to large abdomen. Its Flat abdomen is covered with transparent exoskeleton. A webbed formation in its abdomen makes it as a walking leaf in nature.
Diapheromera:
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| Diapheromera |
Schizura:
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Geometrid Moth falls under phylum arthropoda. During larvae stage, coloration of its body becomes dark brown, which is perfect to camouflage with the twigs of trees around.
Eupagurus:
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| Eupagurus |
Eupagurus or Hermit Crabs houses inside the shell lefts of sea snails. When tiny creels or aquatic organism approaches to them unknowingly, it kills its prey instantly - an example of Concealing Protective Mimicry.
Arisaema:
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Arisaema are tree species found mostly in Himalayan region. It has a spathe like the hood of poisonous snakes, in few species white spots are also present. Photographed one shown here is a specimen from Tungnath, Uttarakhand, at an altitude of nearly 3500 meters.
Kallima:
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| Kallima - a species of butterfly |
Kallima is a type of butterfly is a perfect example of Protective Mimicry. It seems much like a dried leaf when sits on the branches of trees.
Salticus:
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| Salticus |
Salticus is a very aggressive species among spiders. Its thorax and abdomen is reddish yellow in color, which seems much like a flower bud when sits in bush thickets. "
This was the product of my earlier days learning, now even after pursuing a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, nature tells me to be an observer and a humble student of nature. This is just a sample. Preliminaries like this one made me who I am and what I do. Rest lies in your understanding of nature and in the hands of God.
