Aditya's Photography

 The Anomalous Nawab  is a  butterfly  found in Asia that belongs to the rajahs and nawabs group. It is found mainly in India, Nepal, and Sri-Lanka. Its wingspan ranges from 95-100 mm.  The male and female have wings with the yellow bands uniformly narrower, the outer edge of the band more irregular, undulated, the portions between the medians being each somewhat incurved. This butterfly somewhat resembles the Common Nawab, but it is paler with more acute forewings, light bands on the forewing relatively broader. It has two yellow dots near the forewing's apex.  Its flight is very swift and strong. It is often seen in the company of other butterflies, mudpuddling, or probing for plant sap. It is the most active in the months of March to November.  

 Plain Tiger, also known as the African Queen and the African Monarch,   is a medium-sized butterfly widespread in  Asia ,  Australia,  and  Africa . It  primarily consume plants  commonly called milkweed. Milkweed contains toxic compounds  that are often consumed and stored by many butterflies. Because of their  emetic  properties, the plain tiger is  unpalatable  to most predators. As a result, the species' coloration is widely  mimicked  by other  species  of  butterflies . The plain tiger inhabits a wide variety of  habitats , although it is less likely to thrive in  jungle -like conditions and is most often found in drier, wide-open areas. Plain Tiger is a medium-sized  butterfly  with a  wingspan  of about 7–8 cm. The body is black with many white spots. The wings are orange, the upperside brighter, and richer than the underside. The upper half of the f...

 Common Emigrant, also known as Lemon Emigrant, is a medium-sized butterfly commonly found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri-Lanka, and Myanmar. Its wingspan ranges from 55-80 mm.  It is a common species of gardens and city areas. Usually seen on flowers in gardens throughout the year. During the summers, due to the scorching heat, they can be found near damp patches. Their flight is rapid with erratic up and down swoops. They are found up to 4000m in the hills.  Both the genders are yellow to translucent greenish-white in color. Their antennae may be red or black in color. 

  The Common Evening Brown is found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri-Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Their wingspan ranges from 60-80 mm.  Their flight is jerky and they fly close to the ground. They are found up to 2100m in the hills. They can be found fluttering around throughout the year. They are usually active at dusk and might enter houses since they are attracted to light. These butterflies have two morphs(looks), one is the wet season morph and the other is the dry season morph. During the wet season, they have coffee brown wings with huge yellow, black and white spots. During the dry season, their wings are hazelnut brown in colour and the huge spots fade away and black patches appear on the wings which impart the look of a blotted paper, disguising it as a completely different butterfly. 

Other names - Lime Butterfly, Lemon Butterfly, Lime Swallowtail, Chequered Swallowtail. These  common names  refer to their host plants, which are usually citrus species such as the  lime . Unlike most butterflies belonging to the swallowtail family, it does not have a prominent tail. The butterfly is  found from Asia to  Australia and can be easily spotted in gardens. The butterfly has a wingspan 80–100 mm.  Above, the background colour is black. A broad, irregular yellow band is found on the wings above, which is broken in the case of the forewing. Besides this, the butterfly has a large number of irregular spots on the wing. The upper hindwing has a red spot with blue edging around it. This butterfly is an avid  mud-puddler(as explained in the Ceracris post)  and visitor of flowers. It basks with its wings held wide open on tufts of  grass  and  herbs , and generally keeps within a metre of the ground, even on cloudy days. I...

  Common Castor is  an orange  butterfly  with brown lines whose  larvae  feed almost exclusively on the castor oil plant .  Their wingspan ranges between 30–35 mm. Like others in their family , their front two legs are small and unused, effectively making them four-legged. These smaller appendages are covered with long hairs, giving them the characteristic brush look.   It is a very active butterfly but weak on the wing. It flies gracefully as if sailing through the air among the castor plants or any dense vegetation. It is fond of resting on leaves at the top canopy, keeping the wings slowly moving sideways, and always nearer to host plants. It is found all over India, Shimla to Sikkim in The Himalayas, and recorded from Rajputana and Bengal, Assam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Tenasserim, Malayan subregion.

 The wingspan of the rounded pierrot is nearly 23-28mm. It is not a rare pierrot and can be easily spotted.  It is usually found in Nepal, Sri-Lanka, and India. It flies low over grasses and shrubs. In the Himalayas, it is found even up to 2,130m. It is active almost throughout the year.  The lower side of the wings is white with black spots, strips, and borders. The upper side is violet-blue with a narrow black border. They have a short tail on each hind wing. They are not as alert and aware of human presence as larger butterflies and go about their business without paying much attention to humans.

                                      Plains Cupid in the process of mating                                                              A male butterfly has several methods of determining whether he has found a female of his own species. One way is by sight. The male will look for butterflies with wings that are the correct color and pattern. When a male sights a potential mate it will fly closer, often behind or above the female. Once closer, the male will release special chemicals, called pheromones , while it flutters its wings a bit more than usual.   The male may also do a special "courtship dance" to attract the female. These "dances" consist of flight patterns that are peculiar to that species of butterfly. If the...

PLAINS CUPID  Wingspan - 25-35 mm Status - Locally common  Found in India, Sri-Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar Habits and Habitats -These butterflies can be seen fluttering about and chasing each other in weed lots. They are not as alert and aware of human presence as larger butterflies and go about their business without paying much attention to humans. The males are more often seen on damp patches than on flowers. The females fly low among grasses. The Plains Cupid flies in the Himalaya up to 2000 meters but it prefers well-wooded regions. The easiest way to distinguish between the two sexes is that the male's upper portion is bright lavender-blue with a dark outer border. The first image gives us an idea of its appearance whereas the second image clearly portrays the male's upper portion which is bright lavender-blue with a dark outer border. This butterfly is very common and can be easily spotted in our gardens, all you need to do is to find the time to...