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Blue Morman (male)

Papilio polymnestor

Description:

Spotting 1800! I was hoping for a special spotting when I looked out my door, and there it was resting on a palm frond. This is the first one of these beauties I have seen this summer. Maybe because the lime tree is now in flower. They seem to have a habit of resting in the hot afternoons on the palms right outside my door, so I see them quite often. The Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) is a large swallowtail butterfly found in South India and Sri Lanka.

Habitat:

In India it is restricted to the Western Ghats, Southern India and the East coast. It has been recorded as far north as Gujarat. The butterfly is most common in heavy rainfall areas, such as evergreen forests. Also common in deciduous forests and wooded urban areas, primarily due to the cultivation of its host plants, i.e. the Citrus species.

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18 Comments

pamsai
pamsai 10 years ago

thanks RishManu...

RishiManu
RishiManu 10 years ago

lovly one. happy clicking

pamsai
pamsai 11 years ago

thanks Metta, Arun, Jakubko, nuwan, leanne and TL. Replying a bit late, but better late than never!

KarenL
KarenL 11 years ago

Lovely series Pam!

RiekoS
RiekoS 11 years ago

Thank you very much for your kind explanation Pam.
And, Congratulations for "1800"!

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 11 years ago

Well done Pam - a really nice 1800th.

pamsai
pamsai 11 years ago

@Reiko, Actually when you see these butterflies in nature, the females are between bluish grey and a very pale blue, and the males can be a darker blue. It seems difficult to capture the blue in a photo, maybe the way the light hits the scales.

TL
TL 11 years ago

great closeups!

LeanneGardner
LeanneGardner 11 years ago

Congratulations Pam on spotting 1800!

pamsai
pamsai 11 years ago

thanks Yuko, Atul and Maria db

NuwanChathuranga
NuwanChathuranga 11 years ago

gorgeous!!

Jacob Gorneau
Jacob Gorneau 11 years ago

Wow! What a magnificent butterfly! Congratulations on 1,800 spottings!

Arun
Arun 11 years ago

fabulous .. Congratulations on 1800 spotting :)

RiekoS
RiekoS 11 years ago

Beautiful. It looks like colors of black and white, but it is called Blue Morman?

MettaSetiawan
MettaSetiawan 11 years ago

Beautiful

Maria dB
Maria dB 11 years ago

Nice series showing the front and back

Atul
Atul 11 years ago

wow ...Beautiful ..Congrats on 1800 wonderful spottings :)

YukoChartraw
YukoChartraw 11 years ago

This is so beautiful!

pamsai
Spotted by
pamsai

Tamil Nadu, India

Spotted on Mar 24, 2013
Submitted on Mar 24, 2013

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