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Nilgiri Four Ring

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Ypthima chenu  Malayalam Name      : നീലഗിരി നാൽക്കണ്ണി Common Name ; Nilgiri Four Ring  Order  : Lepidoptera Super Family             : Papilionoidae (Butterflies) Family               :  Nympalidae Sub Family : Satyrinae DISTRIBUTION :  The South India in Nilgiris and Anamala Hills STATUS:   Endemic to Western Ghats HABITAT  :  High altitude areas HABITS : IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES:  Medium-sized brown butterfly with wingspan of 45 to 50  mm. Upperside  van dyke-brown. Fore wing with the usual preapical, bipupilled, yellow-ringed, large ocellus , and a more or less obscure transverse subterminal fascia . Hind wing w...

Indian Common Three Ring

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Ypthima asterope mahratta Malayalam Name      : മുക്കണ്ണൻ Common Name ; Indian Common Three Ring Order  : Lepidoptera Super Family             : Papilionoidae (Butterflies) Family               :  Nympalidae Sub Family : Satyrinae DISTRIBUTION :   The sub species distributed throughout in India. STATUS:   Common. . Adults are on wing year round with peaks in summer. There is one generation per year. HABITAT  :  HABITS : IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES:    The  wingspan   is 30–34 mm in males and 32–38 mm in females. there is 3 ocelli in the hind wing. SIMILAR SPECIES :  LARVAL HOST PLANTS:  The lar vae feed on grasses ( Poaceae ). LIFE CYCLE MORE IMAGES photo credit: Firoz AK Courtesy  Write up:Wikipaedia Images: TNHS കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്   മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ

Red-eye Bush Brown

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 Telinga adolphei /  Heteropsis adolphei - Malayalam Name      : ചെങ്കണ്ണൻ തവിടൻ Common Name ; Red-eye Bush Brown   Order  : Lepidoptera Super Family             : Papilionoidae (Butterflies) Family               :  Nympalidae Sub Family : Satyrinae DISTRIBUTION :  The species found in South India. STATUS:   Endemic to Western Ghats HABITAT  :  HABITS : IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES:  Medium-sized brown butterfly with wingspan of 45 to 55 mm. Upperside : dark umber brown; Forewing with a large, white-centred, fulvous-ringed black median  ocellus   and a white-centred preapical much smaller black spot . Hindwing uniform, a ...

Malabar Autumn Leaf

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D oleschallia bisaltide malabarica   Fruhstorfer, 1899  ചെമ്പൻ ഓക്കില Malayalam Name      : ചെമ്പൻ ഓക്കില Order  : Lepidoptera Super Family             : Papilionoidae (Butterflies) Family               :  Nympalidae Sub Family : Nymphalinae DIST RIBUTION : Species found in  South Asia and South East Asia. The Sub species found in Western Ghats STATUS:   Not rare HABITAT  :  Moist deciduous forests and urban landscape HABITS:  IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES:  The wingspan of the butterfly ranges from 75 to 85 millimetres.  The resemblance to a dried leaf,when wings folded , is extremely realistic and gives the genus its common names, the oakleaf or dead leaf. SIMILAR SPECIES :  LARVAL HOST PLANTS   Eranthemum spp., Graptophyllum pictum, Pseuderanthemum malabaricum, Strobilanthes spp. (Acanthaceae), Urtica spp. (Urticacea...

Himalayan Orange Oakleaf/Tamil Oakleaf

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 Kallima inachus huegeli Malayalam Name      : ഹിമാലയൻ ഓക്കില ശലഭം Order  : Lepidoptera Super Family             : Papilionoidae (Butterflies) Family               :  Nympalidae Sub Family : Nymphalinae DIST RIBUTION :   Tropical Asia STATUS:   Not rare HABITAT  :  HABITS  The butterfly exhibits  polyphenism , i.e. there are specific dry-season and wet-season forms which differ in colouration and size; the wet-season form tends to be smaller. The orange oakleaf is a powerful flier and usually flies in dense forests with good rainfall, amongst undergrowth and along stream beds. It is attracted to tree sap and over-ripe fruit, and is also known to  mud-puddle.  when in danger the orange oakleaf flies erratically, soon dropping down into the foliage and occupying a stationary pose with wings closed, so that the birds are very o...