| Tailed palmfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male | |
 | |
| Female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Elymnias |
| Species: | E. caudata |
| Binomial name | |
| Elymnias caudata Butler, 1871 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Elymnias caudata, [1] [2] the tailed palmfly, [2] is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South India. [1] [3] Some authors consider this as a subspecies of Elymnias hypermnestra . [3]
This butterfly species are sexually dimorphic: males and females do not look alike. Males have black upperside forewings with small blue patches and mimic Euploea species, while the females mimic butterfly species of the genus Danaus .
Both sexes have the wings longer, proportionately to their breadth, and the tail at apex of vein 4 on the hindwing longer compared to Elymnias hypermnestra .
Upperside: Male differs from E. hypermnestra as follows: the subterminal and preapical spots on the forewing white suffused slightly with dark scales; the terminal half of the hindwing tawny, more or less suffused with dusky black, which in some specimens forms a distinct border along the termen. Female similar to the female of E. hypermnestra, but the black more extended; veins 2, 3, and 4 on the hindwing broadly bordered with black.
Underside: Female differs from E. hypermnestra in the more conspicuous broadly triangular white pre-apical patch on the forewing, and in the prominence of the broad tawny terminal half of the upperside of the hindwing, which shows through a pale, sometimes pinkish brown on the underside. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown, paler beneath and much paler in the female than in the male. [4] [5]
It is endemic to South India. [1] [2]
Cocos nucifera (coconut) Calamus pseudo-tenuis , Calamus rotang , Calamus thwaitesii , Phoenix loureiroi and Licuala species. [6]
"Spindle-shaped, slender, transversely rugose and clothed with short stout bristles...; head large, surmounted by two stout horns, sloping backwards, slightly branched at the ends; a pair of long straight caudal spines setose like the body; colour bright green with longitudinal yellow lines more or less distinct and two rows of large yellow spots tinged with green and sometimes tipped with black on the back; head dark brown, with a yellow cheek-stripe and frontal-line." [4]
"Suspended by the tail only, but in a rigidly horizontal position, regular with the exception of two small pointed processes from the head and an acute thoracic projection above them; colour bright green, beautifully ornamented with four irregular rows of large yellow spots bordered with red." (Davidson & Aitken quoted by Bingham.) [4]
Elymnias hypermnestra, the common palmfly, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia.
Graphium antiphates, the five-bar swordtail, is a species of papilionid butterfly found in south and southeast Asia. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1775.
Cepora nerissa, the common gull, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is native to Sri Lanka, India, China, southeast Asia, and Indonesia.
Pareronia valeria, the common wanderer or Malayan wanderer, is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, and is found in India and Southeast Asia. The butterfly found in India is sometimes considered as a separate species, Pareronia hippia.
Colotis fausta, the large salmon Arab, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, India, Arabia, Chad, Somalia and United Arab Emirates.
Colotis etrida, the little orange tip, is a species of butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is native to India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Charaxes aristogiton, the scarce tawny rajah, is a butterfly species found in India and Indochina that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family.
Charaxes marmax, the yellow rajah, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family.
Jamides lacteata, the milky cerulean, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Hypolimnas misippus, the Danaid eggfly, mimic, or diadem, is a widespread species of nymphalid butterfly. It is well known for polymorphism and mimicry. Males are blackish with distinctive white spots that are fringed in blue. Females are in multiple forms that include male-like forms while others closely resemble the toxic butterflies Danaus chrysippus and Danaus plexippus.
Athyma nefte, the colour sergeant, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in tropical South and Southeast Asia.
Hypermnestra helios is a species of swallowtail butterfly belonging to the Parnassinae family and is the sole member of the genus Hypermnestra. It is found in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is locally common in desert habitats.
Lethe drypetis, the Tamil treebrown, is a species of Satyrinae butterfly found in south India and Sri Lanka.
Vindula erota, the common cruiser, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Indian fritillary is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia.
Neptis jumbah, the chestnut-streaked sailer, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia.
Macroglossum multifascia is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is known from Malaysia and the Philippines.
Pareronia hippia, the common wanderer or Indian wanderer, is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. It is found in India. Some authors consider this as a subspecies of Pareronia valeria.
Elymnias nesaea, the tiger palmfly, is a butterfly in the family Nymphalidae.
Auzakia is a monotypic butterfly genus in the family Nymphalidae. It contains the single species, Auzakia danava, the commodore, which is found from Tibet to Sumatra.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain : Bingham, Charles Thomas (1905). Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 1. pp. 173–174. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain : Moore, Frederic (1893–1896). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. II. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 150–151.
Data related to Elymnias caudata at Wikispecies
Media related to Elymnias caudata at Wikimedia Commons