Wavy Maplet

Description:

Chersonesia rahria belongs to the family Nymphalidae in the sub-family Cyrestinae. These tiny Maplet butterflies are amongst the most delightful and interesting rainforest species found in Malaysia and Southern Thailand, delicately marked with fine wavy lines on a bright orange ground colour.

Habitat:

This species breeds in primary rainforest at elevations between 0-800m. At higher altitudes it is gradually replaced by C. risa, in which the outer lines on the forewings are straight rather than wavy.

Notes:

These little butterflies flit regularly from spot to spot, but never stray far from their favoured places. They will often perch momentarily on the underside of a leaf before fluttering daintily to another leaf nearby, on which they settle with wings fully outspread and held flat against the surface. At other times they like to land on the ground, usually on wet leaf litter, and will spend long periods probing among the rotting vegetation, at all times keeping their wings outspread. A Hoskins.