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Vindula dejone dejone
Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Heliconiini; Vindula dejone dejone Erichson 1834. The Subfamily: Nymphalinae are called 'True Brush Foots', Philippine Lepidoptera explains as follows: "NYMPHALINAE is the main subfamily of Nymphalidae. They are called the true brushfoots. True Brushfoots Nymphalinae Size, color, and wing shape varies. They appear to have only four legs because their front legs are small and nonfunctional. The host plants of Nymphalinae are mainly in the families Urticaceae, Asteraceae, Acanthaceae, Plantaginaceae and Scrophulariaceae."
This Lesser Cruiser was spotted on a narrow road leading up into the hills which surround our local area. I would normally prefer to see a butterfly on some kind of vegetation, in the hope that there might be some clues as to its host plant or even just to present a more natural background for a picture. This one, however, had its own agenda. It was sitting on wet concrete (the road was surfaced for the first time) and it was clearly sipping the excess water from the surface. The road project took some months to complete and, in that time, I saw numerous butterflies behaving in this way. I know that "mud puddling" is common amongst many species, but this "cement drinking" seems to be rather strange.
Confirmation of presence in Philippines - https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/1626... https://philippinelepidopt.wixsite.com/b... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vindula_de...
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