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Monkey Puzzle

Rathinda amor

Description:

The Monkey Puzzle, Rathinda amor is a small lycaenid or blue butterfly found in south Asia. It is common and present in all the Western Ghat districts of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Goa. Sexes alike. Wingspan - 26 to 28 mm. Upperside - The butterfly is dark brown. It has a white-spot end cell. It has narrow white spots on 2 and 3 which form a short band on the forewing. On the UPH it has two black tornal spots and narrow dark reddish spot above them. Underside - The butterfly is white to dark yellowish brown. Forewing has irregular dark basal markings with a curved white discal line. The apical two-fifths are a rich dark brown colour. The hindwing has a silvery margin with many irregular black lines and spots within. It has three tails, being 2 mm, 6 mm and 2.5 mm in length.

Habitat:

This butterfly is found in jungle areas of moderate to heavy rainfall - both, in heavy forest and scrub. The butterfly occurs below 900 meters or so. It keeps to undergrowth and can be seen along forest paths and in clearings.

Notes:

The butterfly has a weak flight, it stays low and does not fly for long without alighting. Its method of alighting is interesting - as soon as it lands, it turns around and waggles its tail filaments, it also sidesteps for a while - all this is apparently to confuse a predator as to which side is the head. This is a likely reason that the first naturalists may have named the species the Monkey Puzzle.

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12 Comments

Reza Hashemizadeh
Reza Hashemizadeh 10 years ago

Stunning !

Rajas Deshpande
Rajas Deshpande 12 years ago

nice spotting...

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 12 years ago

Fantastic work !

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 12 years ago

Welcome to Project Noah kadavoor! I've been using your flickr collection as a reference for Indian butterflies! Nice to see you here.

KarenL
KarenL 12 years ago

Lovely series!
Welcome to the Community kadavoor!

The MnMs
The MnMs 12 years ago

Super beautiful!

Atul
Atul 12 years ago

superb pics !!!

Maria dB
Maria dB 12 years ago

Great series, especially the fourth one with other insects

bayucca
bayucca 12 years ago

Welcome on Noah! Now I can see your face! I certainly know your wonderful pictures from flickr ;-)... A name to remember!!
Fantastic little beauty!!

Wild Things
Wild Things 12 years ago

Amzing shots and detailed information. Thank you for sharing.

Arun
Arun 12 years ago

Adipolli .. nice spotting ..

Sachin Zaveri
Sachin Zaveri 12 years ago

Very Beautiful,
Welcome to Project Noah,

kadavoor
Spotted by
kadavoor

Kerala, India

Spotted on Apr 15, 2011
Submitted on Jan 12, 2012

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Reference

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