Junonia almana

Last updated

Peacock pansy
Peacock Pansy bySaptarshiGayen.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Nymphalidae
Genus: Junonia
Species:
J. almana
Binomial name
Junonia almana
Synonyms [1]
  • Papilio almanaLinnaeus, 1758
  • Papilio asterieLinnaeus, 1758
  • Junonia asterie var. nikobariensisFelder, 1862

Junonia almana, the peacock pansy, [2] [3] is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Cambodia and South Asia. [2] [3] It exists in two distinct adult forms, which differ chiefly in the patterns on the underside of the wings; the dry-season form has few markings, while the wet-season form has additional eyespots and lines. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List. [4]

Contents

Description

The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 54–62 mm (2.1–2.4 in), [1] and exhibits seasonal polyphenism.

Dry-season form

"Upperside rich orange-yellow. Fore wing with a pale dusky and a much darker short transverse bar with lateral jet-black marginal lines across cell, another somewhat similar bar defining the discocellulars; costal margin, an inner and an outer subterminal line, and a terminal line dusky black; a large minutely white-centred ocellus with an inner slender and outer black ring on disc in interspace 2; two similar but smaller geminate subapical ocelli with an obscure pale spot above them and a short oblique bar connecting them to the black on the costa. Hind wing: a small minutely white-centred and very slenderly black-ringed discal ocellus in interspace 2, with a very much larger pale yellow and black-ringed ocellus above it spreading over interspaces 4, 5 and 6, the centre of this ocellus inwardly brownish orange, outwardly bluish black, with two minute white spots in vertical order between the two colours; finally postdiscal subterminal and terminal black sinuous lines. [1]

"Underside ochraceous brown, very variable. In most specimens the cell of the fore wing is crossed by three dark sinuous bands, the outermost along the discocellulars; these are very faint in some; both fore and hind wings crossed by a basal and a discal pale sinuous line, the latter margined outwardly by a dark shade, which is traversed by an obscure somewhat obsolescent row of dark spots, and outwardly bounded by a subterminal sinuous line, the dark shade in many cases spreading on the fore wing to the terminal edge of the wing; on the hind wing the subterminal line meets the discal in an acute angle at the tornus. Antennae dark brown; head, thorax and abdomen more or less orange-brown; paler beneath." [1] [5]

Wet-season form

"Upperside similar, the black markings deeper in colour and heavier, the subterminal and terminal lines more clearly defined.

"Underside pale ochraceous. Fore wing: cell crossed by live short sinuous dark brown lines, a similar line on the discocellulars and another beyond it, both bent inwards at an angle and continued to the dorsum, the space between them forming a discal broad fascia, which pales to whitish posteriorly; the postdiscal ocelli, subterminal and terminal lines as on the upperside but paler. Hind wing: a slender transverse subbasal dark line, a discal whitish straight fascia in continuation of the one on the fore wing; the postdiscal ocelli, the subterminal and terminal lines much as on the upperside but paler; the anterior ocellus with a double iris and centre. Antennae dark brown; head, thorax and abdomen slightly darker than in the dry-season form." [1]

Distribution

J. almana is found in India, Sri Lanka and South East Asia, and eastwards to China and Japan. [1] [2] [3]

Larva

The caterpillars of Junonia almana feed on a variety of plants, including Hygrophila auriculata , Phyla nodiflora and species in the genera Acanthus , Barleria and Gloxinia . [6]

"Cylindrical. Head blackish, slightly hairy. Body pale ochreous-brown, with a dorsal, subdorsal and lateral blackish line, and a row of small-ringed spots below the latter; second segment anteriorly with a transverse reddish stripe; second, third and fourth segments posteriorly with a transverse blackish stripe; second to last segment armed with a dorsal, subdorsal, and two lateral rows of short, fine-branched spines." (Frederic Moore quoted by C. T. Bingham) [1]

Pupa

"Rather short and thick; head and thorax broad, headpiece pointed beneath; thorax and abdomen dorsally with short tubercular points; colour brownish-ochraceous." (Frederic Moore quoted by C. T. Bingham) [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Junonia atlites</i> Species of butterfly

Junonia atlites, the grey pansy, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia.

<i>Dodona durga</i> Species of butterfly

Dodona durga, the common Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the Punches and Judies, that is, the family Riodinidae.

<i>Dodona dipoea</i> Species of butterfly

Dodona dipoea, the lesser Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the Punches and Judies, that is, the family Riodinidae.

<i>Dodona egeon</i> Species of butterfly

Dodona egeon, the orange Punch, is a small but striking butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm - in Mussoorie to Assam, Burma (nominate) and Peninsular Malaya that belongs to the family Riodinidae.

<i>Charaxes marmax</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Mycalesis perseus</i> Species of butterfly

Mycalesis perseus, the dingy bushbrown or common bushbrown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in south Asia and southeast Asia.

<i>Junonia hierta</i> Species of butterfly

Junonia hierta, the yellow pansy, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in the Palaeotropics. It is usually seen in open scrub and grassland habitats.

<i>Mycalesis mineus</i> Species of butterfly

Mycalesis mineus, the dark-brand bush brown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in Asia.

<i>Mycalesis nicotia</i> Species of butterfly

Mycalesis nicotia, the brighteye bushbrown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in Asia.

<i>Lethe rohria</i> Species of butterfly

Lethe rohria, the common treebrown, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in Asia.

<i>Lethe drypetis</i> Species of butterfly

Lethe drypetis, the Tamil treebrown, is a species of Satyrinae butterfly found in south India and Sri Lanka.

<i>Vindula erota</i> Species of butterfly

Vindula erota, the common cruiser, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.

<i>Argynnis hyperbius</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Stichophthalma nourmahal</i> Species of butterfly

Stichophthalma nourmahal, is a South Asian butterfly that belongs to the Morphinae subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies family.

<i>Enispe cycnus</i> Species of butterfly

Enispe cycnus, the blue caliph, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Southeast Asia.

<i>Lasiommata schakra</i> Species of butterfly

Lasiommata schakra, the common wall, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South Asia.

<i>Vagrans egista</i> Sole species of brush-footed butterfly genus Vagrans

Vagrans is monotypic genus with the species vagrant a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.

<i>Catochrysops strabo</i> Species of butterfly

Catochrysops strabo, the forget-me-not, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, from Sikkim to Indochina and in Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Philippines.

<i>Junonia orithya</i> Species of butterfly

Junonia orithya is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and in Australia. In India, its common English name is the blue pansy, but in southern Africa it is known as the eyed pansy as the name blue pansy refers to Junonia oenone. In Australia, this butterfly is known as the blue argus, but this name also is used for the Aricia anteros in Europe.

<i>Junonia iphita</i> Species of butterfly

Junonia iphita, the chocolate pansy or chocolate soldier, is a butterfly found in Asia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PD-icon.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Bingham, Charles Thomas (1905). Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 1. pp. 361–362.
  2. 1 2 3 Varshney, R.K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi. p. 219. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN   978-81-929826-4-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Savela, Markku. "Junonia almana (Linnaeus, 1758)". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Peacock Pansy". IUCN Redlist.
  5. ↑ PD-icon.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Moore, Frederic (1899–1900). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. IV. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 78–82.
  6. ↑ Krushnamegh Kunte & Madhav Gadgil (2000). "Appendix I. Larval host plants of peninsular Indian butterflies". Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press. pp. 221–228. ISBN   978-81-7371-354-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.