Peacock Pansy

Description:

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Nymphaliini; Junonia almana almana Linnaeus, 1758. This is a strikingly colourful butterfly and J. a. almana is the ssp. present in the Philippines. The pictures shown here were all taken in the same place and are all of the same ssp., but on different dates. The reason for this is that I want to illustrate the differences between the dry season and wet season forms. The picture of the specimen hanging vertically shows a perfect specimen (newly eclosed from its pupa) and in the process of inflating its wings. The dorsal view is how you will recognise this butterfly when you see it for the first time. The dorsal view is always as shown. However, there are two possible ventral views which slightly confused me when I first encountered a Peacock Pansy. The rather pale colouring with small almost imperceptible eyespots is the dry season form and the darker, more clearly defined markings with larger eyespots is the wet season form.

Habitat:

These Peacock Pansies were all spotted in the same rice field on wild grasses and foliage which spring up rapidly in between rice crops.

Notes:

The link to Wikipedia in my references deals with Junonia almana and not the subspecies Junonia almana almana. This is because the information is detailed and helpful and it seems that almost everything mentioned applies equally to the ssp.