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The Common banded peacock is a species of swallowtail butterfly, found in India, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is known for its tendency to fly high and forage on trees. Furthermore, it is a solitary and fast flyer. The butterfly belongs to the family Papilionidae (papilio is Latin for ‘butterfly’). The butterflies belonging to this family are large and colourful. It is interesting to note that this family includes the largest butterflies in the world (birdwing butterfly — 25-28 cm in Queen Alexandra's birdwing).

The Grass jewel is a butterfly found in Africa, Arabia (UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia), southern Europe (Bulgaria, Greece), India and southern Asia. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. According to Wikipedia, “Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterfly species.”

The Common crow belongs to the family Nymphalidae. It has rows of white spots on the margins of its wings and it has a wingspan of 8-9 cm. According to Wikipedia, “E. core is a slow, steady flier. Due to its unpalatability it is usually observed gliding through the air with a minimum of effort. As caterpillars, this species sequesters toxins from its food plant which are passed on from larva to pupa to the adult. While feeding, it is a very bold butterfly, taking a long time at each bunch of flowers.” The Common crow is an inedible species, it is mimicked by other butterflies in order to…

According to Dilmahconservation.org, “The slow-flying Small Salmon Arab always flies near the ground. Even though their larval food plant tends to grow up, they use stunted trees, saplings or shoots that come out from base of trees to lay eggs in batches. These butterflies congregate for roosting and choose dried up herbaceous areas to settle, allowing them to camouflage themselves.” 

The males of the species are blackish in colour, with distinct spots of white with blue borders. Apart from the name Danaid eggfly, it is also known as Mimic or Diadem. The females of the species have multiple forms including those that resemble the males, and also forms that resemble toxic butterflies such as the Plain tiger and Monacrch.

The Common wanderer is found in India and Southeast Asia. It has a wingspan of around 6-8 cm, and belongs to the family Pieridae. According to Wikipedia, “The name ‘butterfly’ is believed to have originated from a member of this family, the brimstone, Gonepteryx rhamni, which was called the ‘butter-coloured fly’ by early British naturalists.”

The apefly is a butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm (it is one of the eight biogeographical realms which extends to South and Southeast Asia and the southern portion of East Asia). The butterfly gets its name ‘apefly’ from the resemblance of its pupa to the face of an ape.

According to the Prakriti Wildlife Club of IIT Madras page “It is the most common butterfly in our country. It is found basking during early morning in sunny patches, often surrounded by darker shady areas when it appears like an Orange-face Owl, thus scaring away potential invertebrate predators. Like other Pansies, it is highly territorial in behaviour and often chases away intruders. It visits flowers of Aztec Marigold, Lantana, Land Caltrops”. The Peacock pansy has a wingspan of around 54-62 mm.

The butterfly is also known as the Gaika blue. According to nature photographer Krishna Mohan’s website (drkrishi.com), the Tiny grass blue “is known to be the second smallest butterfly seen in India… There is only one other butterfly known to be the smaller than this, Grass Jewel or Freyeria trochylus. There is just about 1 mm difference between the wingspans of both; Zizula hylax is about 16 mm while Freyeria trochylus is about 15 mm.”

This butterfly is marked by eyespots on the upperside of its wings. According to the IIT Madras Prakriti Wildlife Club website, “It is the most common of the six Pansies in India. It is a very bold butterfly with strong territorial and aggressive behaviour but not as much as the Peacock Pansy. It flies quickly and strongly but with less fluttering of wings. It generally rests on the ground but not so frequently as the other Pansies.”

This butterfly is also known as the African queen or African monarch. According to Wikipedia, “The plain tiger is believed to be one of the first butterflies depicted in art. A 3500-year-old ancient Egyptian fresco in Luxor features the oldest known illustration of this species.” According to Wikipedia, “Members of this genus are leathery, tough to kill and fake death. Since they are unpleasant to smell and taste, they are soon released by the predators, recover and fly off soon thereafter.” The butterfly is known to sequester toxins from plants such as those from the Milkweed family. This…

The Common crow belongs to the family Nymphalidae. It has rows of white spots on the margins of its wings and it has a wingspan of 8-9 cm. According to Wikipedia, “E. core is a slow, steady flier. Due to its unpalatability it is usually observed gliding through the air with a minimum of effort. As caterpillars, this species sequesters toxins from its food plant which are passed on from larva to pupa to the adult. While feeding, it is a very bold butterfly, taking a long time at each bunch of flowers.” The Common crow is an inedible species, it is mimicked by other butterflies in order to…

According to Wikipedia, the Tawny coster has a wingspan of 53-64 mm. “It has a weak fluttery flight. It is avoided by most insect predators. This species and the yellow coster (Acraea issoria) are the only two Indian representatives of the predominantly African tribe Acraeini.” The butterfly takes its time while feeding on flowers and is known to be bold. According to Wikipedia, “It is one of the boldest butterflies, protected as it is from predators by a nauseous chemical. When attacked it plays dead and exudes a noxious yellowish fluid from glands in the joints of the legs. Like all…

The Common mormon is a common species of swallowtail butterfly which is widely spread across Asia. The female of the Common mormon is polymorphic (having various forms). In the Indian Subcontinent, it has three different forms — Form cyrus, Form stichius and Form romulus. The female mimics the male in Form cyrus, and mimics the Common rose in Form stichius. In Form romulus, it mimics the Crimson rose.

The name Common evening brown is derived from the butterfly’s habit of flying at dusk. There is an article about the butterfly in The Hindu written by K. Jeshi. It talks about an interesting aspect of the butterfly’s behaviour, that is, its ability to camouflage. “This butterfly is a talented camouflage artist. Called the Common Evening Brown, it flits about during the day and at dusk. When it rests on a background of dry leaves, with its wings closed, it looks exactly like a dried leaf. It takes on a yellow hue while fluttering amidst fading green leaves and sometimes it is the colour of…