YOU'LL be glad to know that in the concrete jungle of Mumbai, some beautiful creatures are giving children something to smile about. In spite of the ever-increasing air and chemical pollution, the butterfly population has seemingly increased by 3 percent in Mumbai. There are 150 species of butterflies found in Mumbai at present and a large number of these pretty colourful winged creatures inhabit Sanjay Gandhi National Park and that's the only place where they can be found. The butterfly species that are found in Mumbai are Swallowtail, Common Mormon, Blue Mormon, Tailed Jay, Lime Butterfly, Red Helen, commander, Common Blue Bottle etc. The migration period of butterflies starts usually after monsoon when they fly to Mumbai from Matheran and back. Interestingly, the butterflies that fly back to their native place are not the same butterflies but their third generation as their life span is only 1-2 months. Speaking to FPJ, Isaac Kehimkar, program officer, Bombay Natural History Society, states, "lessening of greenery, pesticides and pollution can harm caterpillars and butterflies as they lay eggs on plants and most of them survive only in national parks where there is less danger. They even face threats from wasps or birds but they use various strategies to evade the predators.' BNHS conducts butterfly watching adventure trails for children who've never seen or learn about butterflies in October every year to impart information and educate school children on butterflies and their life cycle. They will be conducting a weekend camp in April for students. One of the reasons for their population proliferation is the availability of food. The caterpillar feeds on the plants, and while they grow into butterflies each of them feed on certain food plants to survive. Most of the species can not bite so they have to survive on fluids and fascinatingly some butterflies like Raja and Nawabs dismally feed on urine, sweat, rotting fruit, dead animals, refuse etc but majority of the butterfly species feed and survive on nectar of flowers. In spite of all, some of the species of butterfly can barely survive in the city mainly because of certain environmental factors and the climate. " These winged creatures are great admirers of nature so they abide only in the national parks whereever it may be,' adds Isaac. There are 150 species at present surviving in Mumbai and 1500 species in the country. So next time try planting a lime or curry leaf tree and see a yellow color butterfly flying over it admiring the its greenery.