Butterflies in Taiwan

在台灣會過冬的紫斑蝶家族

每年秋冬，台灣紫斑蝶開始由北向南飛行越冬，比較為人熟知的地方是高雄茂林的紫蝶幽谷，在2003年大英博物館出版Butterflies的書中，和墨西哥帝王斑蝶谷，並列為全世界最大的兩個越冬型蝴蝶谷。

紫斑蝶因為棲地開發而數量驟減，所幸愛蝶人士積極透過輿論和教育等活動，已經逐步規劃和維護自然保護區，好讓紫斑蝶能飛來過冬跨年。

紫斑蝶家族裡，最大的蝴蝶是大紫斑蝶，就是在生態圖中間靠左一點的大蝴蝶。可惜的是，大紫斑蝶在1960年代就滅絕了，是什麼原因造成的呢？

如何分辨紫蝶？
推薦閱讀 紫蝶生態網 https://theme.maolin-nsa.gov.tw/butterfly/page_1-1.html

In late autumn or early winter, purple butterflies fly from north to south and spend the winter in one of the warm valleys at the foot of the Central Mountain Range. Several of these are located in the Maolin district of Kaohsiung, and are collectively referred to as the “purple butterfly valley.” According to the book Butterflies published by the British Museum in 2003, Maolin ranks, along with the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico where the eastern population of the North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) spend the winter, as one of the two largest butterfly overwintering sites in the world.

In the past few years, various events have been held promoting butterfly watching in Taiwan, as well as awareness of the need to protect the fragile ecosystem on which their continued existence depends.

At the center of the picture, slightly to the left, is a Taiwan large crow (Euploea phaenareta), which is the largest type of crow butterfly in Taiwan. Why did this species go extinct in the 1960s?