Get out your nature notebooks - Its time to discover some Indian wildlife. There is some amazing wildlife on the Indian Subcontinent, and today we will meet some of the beautiful, colourful butterflies I found in Bangalore.
Butterflies of Bangalore
Hello! As my stay in India draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to introduce you to some of the absolutely amazingly beautiful butterflies I found living here in Bangalore.
These are of course, just a small selection of the many butterflies and abundant wildlife living in this part of the world. Also, as usual, there are many butterflies I see flying, which, I have not yet been able to identify, besides many which I have not yet seen. Today, however, I shall show you a few of the most common butterflies I have come across during my stay in Bangalore.
So, close your eyes and imagine... neon, tetra colours, stained-glass windows, trailing tails and giant wings... Then, get ready to meet the butterflies of Bangalore!
Common Jay
Graphium doson
This spectacular butterfly is a flying work of art. Brilliant, turquoise blue markings flash and blind on a background of velvet black, reminding me of a leaded stained-glass window. It is hard to miss this butterfly as it sails and glides beside you, and is a very restless soul, rarely resting, and fluttering its wings even while feeding.
Crimson Rose
Pachliopta hector
One of the tailed butterflies, the crimson rose is easy to confuse with the Common Mormon - and at first glance, they do appear almost identical... but, I promise, they are not. For, the Crimson Rose as a soft, stunning, red, crushed-velvet like body, whereas the Common Mormon's is a dull, boring black. It also has a very particular flight pattern, gliding along like a paper plane without fluttering, then lifting back up with a little whoosh!
As an interesting fact, the Crimson Rose is legally protected in India.
Tailed Jay
Graphium agamemnon
This beautiful butterfly, like the Common Jay, is another flying work of art resembling a stained-glass window, and just like the latter, is also incredibly difficult to miss, as it glides along at eye level, bobbing and fluttering just above eye-level among its favorite flowers.
As an interesting fact, the Tailed Jay, for all its beauty, has a very short lifespan - it lives only for a month!
Red Pierrot
Talicada nyseus
One of my favorite butterflies, I actually first met this butterfly in Italy, of all places, although it is usually found in South East Asia and the Indian subcontinent!
I decided to show this butterfly with its wings closed, as it is most noticeable in this pose, resting among the flowers - it's upper surface being a dull, dark grey, with flashes of orange on its hind wings.
Common Tiger
Danaus genutia
The Common Tiger butterfly, also known as the Striped Tiger, may look remarkably familiar to some you in the US, as indeed it might, since, this butterfly is very similar to the Monarch butterfly - famous for its migration.
As an interesting fact, this butterfly loves eating poisonous plants, which it stores in its body, making it an unpleasant morsel for unwitting predators!
Common Mormon
Papilio polytes
As mentioned earlier, the Common Mormon is easily confused with the Crimson Rose, and well is that the case. For this butterfly is renowned for its mimicry of the latter, in a bid to deter predators who may have unwittingly sampled the Crimson Rose. However, it is easy to distinguish by its dull, grey or black body - as opposed to the beautiful red velvet body of the Crimson Rose.
Well folks... there you go. My low down on the most common butterflies I found in Bangalore. I hope you enjoyed them, and thank you for reading!
Leila x
P.S. You can now find a longer list of the
butterflies of Bangalore in my field guides (link here).
