'Panda of butterflies' spotted on Fujian's Chenshan Mountain

A rare male Golden Kaiser-i-Hind butterfly was spotted recently near a stream on Chenshan Mountain in Jian'ou, Fujian province at an altitude of about 1,400 meters. It is said to be the first time the extremely rare species has been documented there.

It was observed by Chen Shanyong, a wildlife conservationist and teacher at Fangdao Middle School — near the mountain.

The Golden Kaiser-i-Hind is a national first-class protected species in China and enjoys high status globally in the field of biodiversity conservation.

Because it is so rare, it is known as the "panda of butterflies".

Each forewing of the Golden Kaiser-i-Hind features a curved colored band of golden-green. It has a body length of about 30 millimeters and a wingspan of approximately 110 mm. On its hindwings is a bright yellow patch in the center and a crescent-shaped yellow spot on the hind edge.

The hindwing also has a slender tail-like projection, with a small golden segment at the tip.

The Golden Kaiser-i-Hind's habitat is limited to small geographic areas, and the creature is highly sensitive to environmental changes. It mainly inhabits evergreen broadleaf forests at middle to high elevations across the southeast coastal regions of China, such as Hainan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

Yang Che contributed to this story.