A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Cethosia biblis insularis
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...
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.
Some nice pictures can be seen here; https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/1714... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/19...
2 Comments
Hi SukanyaDatta, thank you for your comment. Yes I agree. It is a really beautiful butterfly. John. B.
Very pretty.