| Common palmfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Elymnias hypermnestra undularis, Kolkata, India | |
 | |
| Elymnias hypermnestra baliensis, Bali, Indonesia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Elymnias |
| Species: | E. hypermnestra |
| Binomial name | |
| Elymnias hypermnestra | |
Elymnias hypermnestra, the common palmfly, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia.
As in some other species in the genus Elymnias, the common palmfly has a precostal cell in the hindwings and a tuft of androconial scales on the dorsal discal cell of the hindwings. Some populations of this butterfly species are sexually dimorphic: males and females do not look alike. In sexually dimorphic populations, males have black upperside forewings with small blue patches and mimic Euploea species, while the females mimic butterfly species of the genus Danaus .
Race undularis (Subhimalayas and Southeast Asia) male upperside blackish brown. Forewing with a subterminal series of blue or sometimes slightly green elongate spots, curving strongly inwards and getting more elongate opposite the apex, forming almost an oblique bar up to the costa. Hindwing: the terminal margin broadly bright chestnut, sometimes with a subterminal paler spot in two or more of the interspaces. Underside pale brown, the basal two-thirds of both forewing and hindwing densely, the outer third more sparsely covered with dark ferruginous, somewhat broad, transverse striae. Forewing with a broadly triangular pale purplish-white preapical mark; both forewings and hindwings with a broad subterminal area purplish white. Hindwing with a small white spot opposite middle of the costa and a more or less complete series of more obscure whitish subterminal spots. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown; abdomen beneath paler.
Female upperside tawny, veins black. Forewing: the dorsal margin broadly black; the apical area beyond a line curving from the tornus, round apex of the cell and a little beyond it, to the base of the costa also black, the wing crossed preapically by a conspicuous, broad, oblique white bar, and three subterminal white spots. Hindwing: dorsal margin dusky; terminal broadly, costal margin more narrowly, black; a subterminal series of four white spots. Underside tawny, with markings similar to those in the male; the pale whitish markings more extensive; the dorsal margin broadly without striae. [1]
Race fraterna, Butler (Sri Lanka) is an insular representative of E. undularis. The male differs on the upperside in the more or less complete absence of the subterminal and preapical blue markings on the forewing; and in the broad terminal border of the hindwing being of a much brighter, almost ochraceous chestnut. On the underside the pale markings are somewhat restricted. The male very closely resembles, both on the upper and underside, the male of E. undularis. [1]
Peninsular India, sub-Himalayas, and Southeast Asia.
Cocos nucifera (coconut) Calamus pseudo-tenuis , Calamus rotang , Calamus thwaitesii , Phoenix loureiroi and Licuala species. [2]
Race caudata "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." [1]
Race undularis "Elongate, fusiform, setose; green with longitudinal dorsal and lateral yellow lines, and a subdorsal row of yellow elongated spots, which are centred with red and posteriorly edged with blue; head brownish, armed with two erect brownish setose processes; anal segment also with two red slender hindward-projecting processes." [1]
Larvae are known to be cannibalistic. [3]
"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.) [1]
Euthalia aconthea, the common baron, often called simply baron, is a medium-sized nymphalid butterfly native to Sri Lanka, India and southeast Asia. It flies with stiff wing beats and often glides. The wing is not flapped very far below the horizontal.
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.
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.
Luthrodes pandava, the plains Cupid or cycad blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Java, Sumatra and the Philippines. They are among the few butterflies that breed on plants of the cycad class.
Athyma selenophora, the staff sergeant, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in tropical and subtropical Asia.
Colotis vestalis, the white Arab, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in India, Pakistan, Iran, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania. It has a wingspan of 4–5 cm.
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.
Cepora nadina, the lesser gull, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1852. It is native to Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Hainan, and southeast Asia.
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.
Euthalia lubentina, the gaudy baron, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South, Cambodia, and Southeast Asia. It was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777.
Symbrenthia lilaea, the peninsular jester, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with Symbrenthia hippoclus. There are numerous regional forms, and the taxonomy of the group is not well resolved.
Athyma nefte, the colour sergeant, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in tropical South and Southeast Asia.
Athyma zeroca, the small staff sergeant, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in tropical and subtropical 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.
Amathusia phidippus, the palmking, is a butterfly found in India and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the Satyrinae, a subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies.
Lethe rohria, the common treebrown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in Asia.
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.
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 caudata, the tailed palmfly, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South India. Some authors consider this as a subspecies of Elymnias hypermnestra.