Rhopalocera and Odonata Association of Rajapalayam - ROAR

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Rhopalocera and Odonata Association of Rajapalayam - ROAR

Main goal is to reach people and make them aware about the importance of these beautiful lesser fauna in our environment.

Promoting biodiversity stewardship involving bridging the gap between people and nature through meaningful education focused on lesser-known fauna, with a primary emphasis on butterflies, odonates, moths, tiger beetles, and other species. This page is intended to discuss and learn about Butterflies and Odonates in general and concentrate about the ones documented in Srivilliputhur Meghamalai Tiger Reserve.

18/11/2025

🌿 The Wonder of Birds — A Big Thank You! 🐦✨

The Wonder of Birds is a beautifully crafted, free online course by Early Bird ( ) that introduces anyone from kids to adults to the amazing world of birds. It’s simple, engaging, and perfect for anyone wanting to understand the birds around them.

Ever since this course went live, we’ve encouraged all our members to take it and build a strong foundation in bird knowledge. And what better time than Young Birders Month ( ) to celebrate learning? 🌱💛 Age is never a limit when curiosity leads the way!

We’re super proud that 16 of our members have completed the course so far, and we’re happy to share that many more members are already halfway through completing the course. 🌿📚

We hope many more from our team take it up soon. A big shout-out and heartfelt thanks to the Early Bird team for creating such a meaningful and wonderfully put-together course! 🙌✨

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13/10/2025

🗞️ Article on our recent find is out today in regional newspaper Dinamalar, Virudunagar! ✨

The elusive Cicindela angulicollis, also known as the Yellow-shouldered Tiger Beetle, has been spotted again in Rajapalayam after more than a decade! 🪲

A small team from ROAR, while out on a casual recce exploring beetles, butterflies, birds and more, struck gold just a few kilometres from the 2014 sighting spot. Not one, but many individuals were found at two different locations. Along the way, the team also recorded other tiger beetles like Jansenia vestiplicatica, Cylindera severini, Lophyra cancellata and Lophyra catena.

Yellow-shouldered Tiger Beetle was first described way back in 1900 and has appeared only in scattered pockets across southern India making each sighting incredibly special. More details mentioned in the article.

This rediscovery is a big boost for conservation work and a reminder that these tiny wonders are still out there, waiting to be noticed. 🌿

10/07/2025

A ROARing Announcement! 📣

We’re thrilled to share that our founder, Sharan V, has been officially onboarded as a Brand Mentor for the world-renowned optics brand Pentax! ✨

Representing their iconic Papilio series binoculars, the only binoculars in the world designed to focus on macro subjects like butterflies and insects. This collaboration perfectly reflects our passion for the natural world and its finer details. 🦋🐜

This is not just a personal milestone, but a proud moment for Team ROAR, reaffirming our commitment to bringing nature closer to everyone, one lens at a time. 💚

27/06/2025

A heartfelt farewell to our favourite Collector, Dr. V P Jeyaseelan, IAS 💐
Jeyaseelan Palanichamy

A few of us from the core team had the honour of meeting our former Collector today at his residence office in Virudhunagar, just a couple of days after his last day in office, to personally express our gratitude. We presented a memento - a photo frame of the Tamil Nadu State Butterfly along with some of our in-house publications from over the years.

Sir, thank you for being one of our strongest pillars of support the last couple of years From noticing our work, believed in it, and awarded us by giving the Green Champion Award in 2023. You stood by us and supported efforts that reached over 50 teachers and thousands of government school students in environmental education initiates. Your care and commitment to the environment truly touched us and made a lasting difference in the district.

You consistently gave importance to environmental initiatives be it education or conservation and we feel truly fortunate to have had so many meaningful interactions with you over the years. Thank you for handing over a few copies of the newly published coffee table book ‘Echoes of Virudhunagar’, a gesture we’ll always cherish.

Wishing you all the very best in your new role as a Joint Commissioner in Chennai. May you continue to inspire and lead with the same passion and dedication. 🌿✨

18/06/2025

Introducing Tiger Beetle Quest - An annual bioblitz starting this June 2025 🪲

A citizen science initiative by Tiger Beetles Watch ( ) to document, study, and celebrate one of India’s most fascinating but overlooked insect groups - tiger beetles. Known for their vivid colours, incredible speed, and ecological significance, tiger beetles are predatory insects found across diverse Indian landscapes. Yet, despite their striking presence, much about them remains underexplored.

Tiger Beetle Watch aims to bridge this gap through:
🔍 Field observation & documentation
📍 Study of distribution and seasonality
📢 Public outreach and community engagement

This initiative currently runs as:

* An open project on iNaturalist
* A dedicated Instagram page ( )
* An active WhatsApp community

Launched by ROAR () and Zooreach () in July 2024, the project is steadily growing, with individuals and institutions across India joining hands.

🧠 Did you know?
India is home to over 250 tiger beetle species, and half of them are endemic.
Several haven’t been recorded in decades , some even a century.
And yet, only around 50% of the known species are documented on iNaturalist.
What about the rest?

It's time to change that.
Join the movement.
(FOR MORE - LINK IN BIO)

26/03/2025

🌿 Celebrating WildEarthling 3.0 Walks 🌿

WildEarthling began in 2022 as a small initiative by Roarrajapalayam to introduce nature education to the residents of Rajapalayam. What started with just 5-6 members has now grown into a passionate community of over 30 nature enthusiasts!

We’re thrilled to share that we’ve successfully completed 72 nature walks so far, with 22 walks conducted in 2024-2025 academic year alone. This year, we introduced our first-ever Ant Walk under the guidance of Dr. Pronoy Baidya (). Vena Kapoor from helped us explore ants and we started nature journaling for the first time with Kanya Devi (), enriching our connection with the natural world.

From dragonflies to birds, butterflies to trees, every walk has been a journey of discovery, learning, and deep connection with nature.These walks have brought together curious minds, passionate nature lovers, and eager learners, fostering a growing community with every step into the wild. 🌏✨
A huge shoutout to everyone who has been a part of this journey! Special thanks to our coordinators—Vivek ( ), Vinothpranav ( ) and Gowtham () -for their dedication in organizing and ensuring the success of these events.

Roar’s () pamphlets on butterflies, dragonflies, and common trees, along with ’s bird guide greatly enriched our walks, making exploration even more engaging and insightful!

Join us for more adventures in WildEarthling 4.0 - explore the beauty around us and experience the joy of the outdoors. whether you’re a beginner or an expert, every walk holds something special. 🌱✨

11/03/2025

The Tamil Nadu Synchronised Bird Census, initiated in 2018, is an annual survey by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department to monitor bird populations across the state. Conducted in two phases, it includes a Wetland Bird Census focusing on waterbirds and a Terrestrial Bird Census covering land-dwelling species.

Our members : Gowthama Pandian, Prabanjan, Kailash, and Naresh participated in the year's Synchronized Bird Survey in Wetlands. The survey focused on four lakes in Rajapalayam, aiming to assess the avian diversity. During the survey, the team along with other volunteers documented over 30 bird species, contributing valuable data to ongoing conservation and monitoring efforts in the region.

27/01/2025

On this Republic Day, 26.01.2025, we are proud to share that some of our members were honored with mementos and awards by the District Collector and administration for their remarkable contributions to public welfare activities. 🇮🇳

As part of the District Collector's "Green Champions" initiative, our team along with ATREE has trained over 50+ government school teachers and 1000+ students in the past couple of years on environmental education, fostering awareness and action for a greener future.

Congratulations to Dr. Nikhil, Mr. Vivek, and Mr. Vinoth for this well-deserved recognition! Your efforts inspire us all to continue making a difference.

23/01/2025

11 Years of Pongal Bird Count! 🪶

The Pongal Bird Count (PBC) is an annual bird monitoring initiative held across Tamil Nadu, India, during the four-day Pongal festival. Organized by the Tamil Birders Network in collaboration with Bird Count India, the program encourages participants to go birding for at least 15 minutes, list and count all the bird species observed, and upload their data to the eBird platform. Whether you're an expert birder or a beginner, every observation counts. The objective is to promote birdwatching in Tamil Nadu and inspire more people to connect with nature.

Since its inception in 2015, members of ROAR in Rajapalayam have actively participated in the PBC, contributing valuable data and fostering a vibrant birding community. Over the years, we have explored more than 30 locations, with the Rajapalayam Water Reservoir emerging as the top birding hotspot in Virudhunagar District. This reservoir has consistently yielded fascinating observations, making it a favorite among local birders. With 205 species collectively observed over the years, 50 species are migratory and 155 being resident birds.

The efforts of top contributors, including Vishnushankar, Sharan, Pranav, Santhosh, and Vijay, have played a crucial role in the success of PBC in Rajapalayam. This year, in 2025, we welcomed new volunteers and birding enthusiasts, many of whom are part of the ongoing WildEarthlings program in Rajapalayam. Together, we covered 23 locations, and during our survey one of the days near Chatrapati, we recorded a remarkable sighting of a Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, a new addition to the town's bird list. With this discovery, Rajapalayam's cumulative bird list now stands at an impressive 286 species. 🐦

In 2025, we recorded 124 species, maintaining our annual average of over 100 species. Vishnushankar ( ) and Sharan ( .in ), the District Coordinators, have been instrumental in coordinating this initiative locally.

Here's to another successful year of birding and an even bigger edition in 2026! 🪶

31/12/2024

Celebrating Seven Years of ROAR 🎉

• 1 January 2018 - 1 January 2025 •

Today, as ROAR (Rhopalocera and Odonata Association of Rajapalayam) marks its seventh anniversary, we reflect on a journey filled with passion, purpose, and progress. Over these years, our mission to bring people closer to nature through the enchanting world of butterflies, dragonflies, and other lesser-known fauna has blossomed into a community-driven movement.

From environmental awareness campaigns that earned us the State Government's Green Champion Award in 2023 to inspiring individuals to observe and celebrate biodiversity, ROAR has grown in impact and reach. None of this would have been possible without the unwavering support of our volunteers, partners, supporters and every individual who believed in our vision. 🙏🏻

To all who have walked alongside us on this journey, thank you. Your dedication, encouragement, and contributions have been the pillars of our success. As we unveil our brand-new website, we look forward to continuing this journey together, spreading the joy of nature, and fostering a deeper connection with our environment.

Here’s to many more years of making a difference, together! Let's ROAR 💚
(LINK IN BIO)

11/11/2024

Exciting news! Today November 11, is officially declared as World Tiger Beetle Day in honor of Dr.David Pearson who has dedicated a decades of his life to work on the conservation and outreach efforts for Tiger Beetles. We’re thrilled to celebrate this day by launching our exclusive tiger beetle metal lapel pins.

Our collection features five stunning designs inspired by nature’s finest: the Braided Tiger Beetle, Bicolored Tiger Beetle, Green Tiger Beetle, Yellow-Spotted Tiger Beetle and Four-Lined Tiger Beetle. Celebrate World Tiger Beetle Day with these beautiful pins—perfect for gifting or adding to your own collection!

Members of ROAR have been into tiger beetles for the last 2-3 years and continue to work. Also do checkout to study and learn more information about the tiger beetles.

This initiative is dedicated to raising awareness of the fascinating tiger beetle species and their essential role in our ecosystems. Together, let’s observe, learn, and inspire others to appreciate and protect these remarkable insects!

Address

Rajapalayam
626117 626108

Website

http://www.instagram.com/roarrajapalayam

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