ආනවිලුන්දාව||Anawilundawa Sanctuary

Jerdon’s Leafbird /ගිරා කුරුල්ලා/ජරදන් කොළරීසියා [Girakurulla/Jaradan Kolarisiya](Chloropsis jerdoni)

Common breeding resident of forests, open wooded areas and home gardens of the dry lowlands. Uncommon in wet lowlands and hills up to about 1100m a.s.l.  It lives as pairs or as family parties during the breeding season after the young are fledged. It has  very harsh calls and often mimics other birds. Jerdon’s Leafbird feeds on insects, fruits and nectar of flowers in the tree canopy. The breeding season lasts from November to May. The nest is a small hammock, slung between two twigs of a small forked branch and well hidden often high in a tree in foliage. 

සිංහලෙන් කියවන්න >>

White frangipani/Bridal bouquet (Plumeria pudica)

An introduced shrub native to Panama, Colombia and Venezuela. Cultivated as an ornamental in home gardens. 

Desert Rose (Leuenbergeria bleo)

An introduced shrub native to Panama, Columbia and Venezuela. Cultivated in home gardens as an ornamental. 

Jacquemontia paniculata

Probably an indigenous vine occurs on sandy soil in the dry zone grasslands, thickets and cultivated lands. 

Brahminy Blind Snake/Flowerpot Snake/දුමුටු කණඋල්ලා/[Dumutu Kanaulla](Indotyphlops braminus)

A small non venomous worm like blind snake lives under the soil, under and inside decaying logs, under stones and leaf litter. Brahminy Blind Snake is worldwide distributed as a result of human activities (Transported in the soil of plants. Hence its common name Flowerpot Snake). Flowerpot Snake feeds on ants, termites, insect larvae and on caterpillar droppings. It occurs from low country to about 1200 m elevations in Sri Lanka. It usually encountered crawling on soil surface during rains when they are flooded out of their subterranean haunts. Brahminy Blind Snake is a parthenogenesis (Entirely female) species producing 2 - 7 eggs without mating (In other words each individual able to found a new colony. Probably the only such snake species in the world). There is a belief that Blind Snakes enters the ears of people sleeping on the ground (Hence their vernacular name කණඋල්ලා)

Body length at birth - 35 mm
Body length of adult Snakes - 150 -170 mm

Pavonia zeylonica

An indigenous herb of roadsides, waste lands and disturbed habitats from coastal areas to about 600 m a.s.l. in the dry zone. 

Common Guava Blue/Woodapple Blue (Virachola isocrates)

Rather common butterfly but seldom seen since it inhabits mainly the canopy. Widely distributed in arid, dry and intermediate zones of the country where its principal larval food plant Limonia acidissima (Woodapple/දිවුල්) grows. Its main flight season is from June to September. Larva feeds on the soft pulp of the Woodapple fruit after eating its way into the fruit through its hard shell. It also prevents the fruit fall by spinning a web around its stalk and top of the fruit. In Sri Lanka, Common Guava Blue  larva also feeds on කුකුරුමාන් (Catunaregam spinosa) and දෙළුම්/Pomergranate (Punica granatum) fruits.

A Sri Lankan Endemic Birdwing Butterfly Leaving Its Chrysalis

Opaque 6-Lineblue (Nacaduba beroe minima)

An uncommon butterfly found in wet zone forests up to  900 m a.s.l.  Its larva feeds on flowers and flower buds of Dalbergia pseudo-sissoo (බඹර වැල්)

ගැරඬිදූල් වැල්/මැඩිය වැල් [Gerandi dul wel/Mediya wel](Cayratia pedata)

An indigenous liana grows in forest edges, river banks and roadsides up to 1000 m elevations. Flowering from August to June.

Flower size - 5-6 mm across

ලොකට්/Loquat/Japan Plum/Japanese Medlar (Rhaphiolepis bibas [Syn: Eriobotrya japonica])

An introduced fruit tree native to the Japan and China. Occasionally cultivated in hill country gardens for its edible fruits and fragrant flowers. 

Smoky-winged Threadtail (Elattoneura leucostigma)

An endemic very rare damselfly inhabiting small streams of montane forests and marshlands in the central hills. 

Green Pergesa Hawkmoth (Pergesa acteus)

Location - Polgasowita
Wing expanse - 6 to 7 cm
Food Plants - Elephant Ear/Caladium bicolor (Sujeeva Gunasena, Personal communication), පණු අල /Typhonium trilobatum (Moore F., 1882-3)
Life Cycle - https://www.facebook.com/kamanijeeva/media_set?set=a.1299671540099821&type=3
Reference - The Lepidoptera of Ceylon - F. Moore, F.Z.S. Vol 2 Page 23.
External Links - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/322014-Pergesa-acteus

කොක්මොට[Kokmota] (Eriocaulon sexangulare [Syn: Eriocaulon fergusonii)

An indigenous perennial herb of low country swampy places. Flowering from September to June. 

Drooping Shadowdamsel (Ceylonosticta lankanensis)

Commonest Shadowdamsel of Sri Lanka occurs from lowlands to mid-hills of southwestern part of the country in both forested steams as well as the disturbed habitats. It is also endemic to the island as all other Shadowdamsels. 

Dark Forestdamsel (Platysticta apicalis)

Locally common insect inhabiting streams and rivulets of southwestern and central forested areas from lowlands to mid-hills. It occurs mainly during April to September. (Bedjanic, M., K. et. al. 2014)

Dark Knob-tipped Shadowdamsel (Ceylonosticta montana)

An endemic damselfly occurs in small streams and seeps of the montane forests from 1000 to 2000 m elevations. 

Adam's Shadowdamsel (Ceylonosticta adami)

Adam's Shadowdamsel is one of the rarest endemic damselfly so far recorded only from few localities of the Knuckles range and its outskirts in the north-central part of the country . It was originally described from specimens collected from Madugoda near Urugalla in 1932 by F.C. Fraser.  After more than seven decades Karen Conniff observed and photographed it in Simpson's forest near Hunnasfalls in April 2006 and again in October 2007 and 2010. Karen Conniff and Matjaz Bedjanic observed a single juvenile female near Urugalla in end of May 2009. Matjaz Bedjanic also reported it from two streams in Simpson's forest in October 2012. Above pictures were taken at Dothalugala Camp Site area of the Knuckles mountain range.

Serendib Forestdamsel (Platysticta serendibica)

Common endemic damselfly inhabiting small streams in secondary and primary forests as well as the degraded habitats of the central and southwestern parts of the country. Much common in the wet low country but occurs also up to about 1000 m a.s.l. in the hills.