Common Mapwing

Description:

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Cyrestini; Cyrestis maenalis maenalis Erichson 1834. Philippine Lepidoptera describes the Nymphalinae 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."

Habitat:

This Common Mapwing was spotted on foliage at the roadside, fairly high up on a hillside, The area is pretty well covered in the remains of what must have been a tropical forest. There is a wide variety of trees (with tangled undergrowth crowding into any gaps). This continues all the way down to sea level where the forest gradually changes to mangrove as it reaches the coast of the South China Sea, about a kilometre away.