Some common species found on campus
(Photographs courtesy Prakriti)
Therea petiveriana – This is a rather common creature at IIT. No, it isn’t a special ladybird. This is the seven-spotted, or the Domino cockroach. It has a beautiful, distinctive, black-and-white pattern. No one ever thought of using the word ‘beauty’ in conjunction with cockroaches before.
Macaca radiata – The bonnet macaque and the most noticeable animal on campus. This species, in addition to fiendishly dextrous limbs to aid their plunder, are also blessed with cheek-pouches to store food. According to studies, they feed on fruit and fresh shoots mostly, and are considered to be harmless, although opinions usually vary.
Dysdercus suturellus – Those red -and –black creepy-crawlies always in clusters? Yes. This is their scientific name. They are found in groups because it aids their search for mates. They are commonly called ‘cotton-stainers’. This is because their diet includes cotton seeds, on which they leave indelible stains when feeding on them.
Axis axis – The spotted deer. Going by the last census conducted by Prakriti, we have about 250 deer on campus. They shed their antlers annually. Don’t be alarmed if you see a deer bleeding a little by the head, its antlers down on the ground. It usually eats the antlers immediately because they are a rich source of calcium.
Antelope cervicapra -The black buck. The lone white one sometimes seen is leucistic i.e. it has reduced skin pigmentation. It is commonly mistaken for an albino, but, whereas albinos suffer from a total lack of melanin cells, leucistic animals have faulty cells. Black bucks are the fastest creatures on the sub-continent (speed – 80km/h). Theirs is an endangered species, even though the only predator capable of outrunning them, the Indian cheetah, is now extinct. This is because of rapid loss of habitat, which for them is open grassland.
