''Symphaedra nais'', also known as the baronet, is a species of

Nymphalid The Nymphalidae are the largest family of butterflies, with more than 6,000 species distributed throughout most of the world. Belonging to the superfamily Papilionoidea, they are usually medium-sized to large butterflies. Most species have a red ...

butterfly found in

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. It was formerly included in the genus ''Euthalia'' but it is a sister to members of the genus ''

Bassarona ''Bassarona'' is a genus of brush-footed butterflies found in India and Southeast Asia. Selected species * '' Bassarona byakko'' (Uehara & Yoshida, 1995) * '' Bassarona dunya'' (Doubleday, 848 – great marquis * ''Bassarona durga ''Bassaro ...

''.

Description

The male and the female both have tawny-yellow uppersides. The forewing has a traverse black line below apex cell and an oval spot beyond encircling a small yellow spot, a broad short oblique discal bar and an angulated postdiscal lunular band the costa narrowly and the termen shaded with black. Hindwing: a comparatively large triangular patch below the middle of the costa, a postdiscal evenly curved series of spots and a broad band along the termen black. Underside dark ochraceous red. Forewing: the base shaded with fuscous black, two spots at base of cell and a transverse line beyond crimson pink, edged with black: a very broad oblique discal band, angulated downwards below vein 4, bordered posteriorly by a large black spot on the inner side and outwardly and anteriorly by an oblique broad black band, followed by four anterior obliquely placed ochraceous-white spots, and beyond by a very narrow lunular black band bent downwards below vein 6. Hindwing: a crimson short line at extreme base, two crimson black-bordered spots in cell: a comparatively broad transverse discal white band often broken up into a large spot below middle of costa, with two or three spots in line below it; finally, a postdiscal series of small black spots. Antennae are black, bright ochraceous at apex; head, thorax and abdomen tawny red above, brown shaded with crimson-pink below.

Distribution

It is widely found in India and Sri Lanka. In India its distribution ranges from lower Himalayas to southern India

Life cycle

Larva

The larva is light green with the purple spots on the dorsal. The sides of the larva contain row of ten horizontal spines covered with fine green hair.

Pupa

The pupa is short broad and triangular. It is green and has gold spots and lines.

Larval host plants

The larvae are known to breed on ''

Shorea robusta ''Shorea robusta'', the sal tree, sāla, shala, sakhua, or sarai, is a species of tree in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The tree is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and across the Himalayan regions . Evolution Fossil evidence from lig ...

'' and ''

Diospyros melanoxylon ''Diospyros melanoxylon'', the Coromandel ebony or East Indian ebony, is a species of flowering tree in the family Ebenaceae native to India and Sri Lanka; it has a hard, dry bark. Its common name derives from Coromandel, the coast of southeas ...

''. File:Euthalia nais mating.JPG, Mating pair File:Euthalia nais egg.JPG, Egg File:Baronet Euthalia nais catterpillar.JPG, Caterpillar

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q565685 Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1771 Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster