Red Lacewing

Description:

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Heliconiini; Cethosia biblis insularis C.& R. Felder 1861. "The Red Lacewing has a wide distribution from central India and Nepal to Thailand, Malaysia, and China, and the islands of the Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Ambon and Serang. It occurs in sub-tropical forests, where adults are most active in the morning and feed on nectar. Red Lacewing caterpillars feed on passion vine (family: Passifloraceae). The Red Lacewing has one of the most elaborate wing patterns of any butterfly. The dorsal surface is a striking bright red with black tips and edges. However, the ventral wing surface bears a complex arrangement of black, yellow, white, and pink stripes, bands, spots, and chevrons." https://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/cetho...

Habitat:

This beautiful butterfly was spotted on Tropical White Weed (Ageratum conyzoides) by the roadside at around 9:50 a.m. I had set out early that morning to try and get some decent pictures of C. b. insularis. On the the two preceding days, I had spotted some nice specimens higher up the slope, but my pictures were not very good. On this attempt, the ones I had seen before were no longer around and I was on my way home when I saw the one pictured here, much further downhill, just a little above sea level. So it can be concluded that C. b. insularis is not quite so choosy about altitude as some other local butterflies.

Notes:

Some nice pictures can be seen here; https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/1714... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/19...