Came across this surprising insect species while out looking for barking deer at dawn. I set out at 0445 towards dense forests beyond Gethia Sanatorium, they call it the "Chinkhua" ravine. After about 3km, I branched off the main road onto a kutcha road that leads to an abandoned Ashram. After another km or so, I went offroad, following the animal tracks through thickets and bushes for a while, before coming across a small clearning. One of the many small white flowers was oddly interesting, until it starting moving and literally made me jump in excitement. These insects were spread over a radius of a few feet. They were about 2-3 cm in length and moved very normally - their walk looking really graceful and princely quite naturally. Never before had I seen anything like this, nor do I expect to see it again anywhere but here.After gawking for a while, I found time to photograph, film and pet these. Not exactly having the right light and studio setup makes for a narrow ranges of angles, but that doesn't matter. What a stunning example of camouflage. Maybe I'll visit the place again later in the month to see if they are settlers or just itinerants.
PS: As always, any help in identification of this species will be very helpful. Come on, friends!
Shiv talks about sending this to National Geographic, nice.
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