DUBAI: The number of wildlife recorded living in the UAE just grew again, following the discovery of two species of butterflies not previously found in the country, state news agency WAM reported.
There are now known to be 57 species of the insects according to naturalists who preparing a comprehensive list of UAE butterflies.
A Mottled Emigrant, Catopsilia pyranthe, which is a medium-sized, pale yellow butterfly common in India, which looks like a leaf when perched in vegetation, was found on Al Noor Island, a leisure venue in Khalid Lagoon, Sharjah, where its entire life cycle has been photographed.
The second species to be found was the Tiny Grass Blue, Zizula hylax, a very small butterfly from the African and Asian tropics. This was found in a residential area of Dubai.
It is thought the butterflies arrived in the UAE with imports of the plants on which they were found, which are very common in public and commercial properties.
Both species have been associated with particular imported ornamental plants on which they lay their eggs in their native homes and on which their caterpillars develop.
However it is possible, experts believe that the Tiny Grass Blue might have expanded its range northward from Oman along with the continued greening of the UAE, or as a result of climate change.
It is not known how long either species has been present in the UAE, as they look similar to others that are native to the country, the report added.
It is not uncommon for new species of creatures to be discovered in the UAE, over the years there have been red back spiders spotted in residential areas of Dubai, the Mynah bird – now a common bird throughout the country is originally from Asia, and Indian house crows have been spotted in Abu Dhabi.
There are also a number of rodents that are thought to have been introduced to the country on shipments of plants and the likes as the country continues to build.
Meanwhile two other resident butterfly species are known to have reached the UAE recently with imported plants. The Western Pygmy Blue Brephidium exilis, is originally from dry southwestern North America, but is believed to have arrived in the UAE in the early 1990s. It lives on saltbushes and is now found throughout the UAE.
And the Cycad Cupid, Clades pandava, from Southeast Asia, was first noticed in 2014. It lives on landscaped cycads, a form of imported palm tree, and has been found at a number of locations in suburban Dubai.
The UAE’s animal kingdom just grew after the discovery of two new species
The UAE’s animal kingdom just grew after the discovery of two new species
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
