''Junonia lemonias'', the lemon pansy,
[ is a common ]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 Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailan ...
and South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
.fallow
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycl ...
land, and open wooded areas.
Description
It is brown with numerous eyespots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black. There is also an eyespot on the lower side of the forewing. The wet- and dry-season forms differ considerably in coloration and even shape. In the wet-season form the markings are distinct and vivid and the wing shape is a little more rounded. In the dry-season form the markings are obscure and pale especially on the underside and the wing margin is more angular and jagged. This helps it camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...
in the dried leaf litter.
Life cycle
Eggs
Eggs are laid singly on the underside of leaves. The egg is green and barrel shaped with longitudinal ridges.
Caterpillar
The caterpillar is cylindrical, uniformly thick and covered with rows of spines which are branched at the tip. It is dull black with a faint blue sheen and has dorsal stripe of a darker color. There is a distinct orange ring behind the head. The caterpillar stays on the underside of the leaf and if disturbed, rolls up and drops to the ground.
Pupa
Pupation takes place in dense foliage close to the ground. The pupa
A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in thei ...
is compact, with small conical processes on its rough surface. The pupa is well camouflaged with varying shades of brown with fine streaks and lines.
Food plants
Caterpillars feed on plants from the families Acanthaceae
Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epiphytes. Only a few species are distributed in tem ...
, Amaranthaceae
Amaranthaceae is a family of flowering plants commonly known as the amaranth family, in reference to its type genus ''Amaranthus''. It includes the former goosefoot family Chenopodiaceae and contains about 165 genera and 2,040 species, making it ...
, Malvaceae
Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...
, Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...
, Tiliaceae
Tiliaceae () is a family of flowering plants. It is not a part of the APG, APG II and APG III classifications, being sunk in Malvaceae mostly as the subfamilies Tilioideae, Brownlowioideae and Grewioideae, but has an extensive historical record o ...
and Verbenaceae
The Verbenaceae ( ), the verbena family or vervain family, is a family of mainly tropical flowering plants. It contains trees, shrubs, and herbs notable for heads, spikes, or clusters of small flowers, many of which have an aromatic smell.
The ...
. Recorded species include ''Alternanthera sessilis
''Alternanthera sessilis'' is a flowering plant known by several common names, including sissoo spinach, Brazilian spinach, sessile joyweed and dwarf copperleaf. It is cultivated as a vegetable worldwide.
Distribution
The plant occurs throughout ...
'', ''Barleria cristata
''Barleria cristata'', the Philippine violet, bluebell barleria or crested Philippine violet, is a plant species in the family Acanthaceae.
Distribution and habitat
It is native to a wide area ranging from Southern China to India and Myanmar.
...
'', '' Barleria prionitis'', ''Blechum pyramidatum
''Ruellia'' is a genus of flowering plants commonly known as ruellias or wild petunias. They are not closely related to petunias (''Petunia'') although both genera belong to the same euasterid clade. The genus was named in honor of Jean Ruelle ...
'', ''Cannabis sativa
''Cannabis sativa'' is an annual herbaceous flowering plant indigenous to Eastern Asia, but now of cosmopolitan distribution due to widespread cultivation. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history, used as a source of industrial fibe ...
'', ''Corchorus capsularis
''Corchorus capsularis'' (also known as patsun), commonly known as white jute, is a shrub species in the family Malvaceae. It is one of the sources of jute fibre, considered to be of finer quality than fibre from ''Corchorus olitorius'', the mai ...
'', ''Dyschoriste repens
''Dyschoriste'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as snakeherb.
Etymology
The name comes from the Greek '' δυσ'', ''poorly'', and '' χωριστός'', ''to split'', in referenc ...
'', ''Eranthemum pulchellum
''Eranthemum pulchellum'', the blue eranthemum or blue sage, is a species of flowering plant in the acanthus family Acanthaceae, native to the Himalayas, western China, India and Nepal. A strongly branched evergreen shrub, it is popular with gar ...
'', ''Hemigraphis schomburgkii
''Hemigraphis'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae, consisting of nearly 40 species native to tropical Asia. ''Hemigraphis'' is similar to plants the genus ''Strobilanthes'', with some species now placed there. Its native range is Nan ...
'', ''Hygrophila auriculata
''Hygrophila auriculata'' (Sanskrit: , Bangla (বাংলা নাম): (কুলেখাড়া) ''kokilākṣa'') is a herbaceous, medicinal plant in the acanthus family that grows in marshy places and is native to tropical Asia and A ...
'', ''Hygrophila costata
''Hygrophila costata'', with the common names glush weed, gulf swampweed, and yerba de hicotea, is an aquatic plant.
The plant is endemic to, is native to Neotropic ecoregions. It is native to Florida, the Caribbean, southern Mexico, Central Ame ...
'', ''Hygrophila lancea
Hygrophila may refer to:
* Hygrophila (gastropod)
Hygrophila is a taxonomic superorder of air-breathing freshwater snails, aquatic pulmonate gastropod mollusks within the clade Panpulmonata. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Hygrophila. A ...
'', ''Lepidagathis formosensis
''Lepidagathis'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae.
Selected species
* '' Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis''
* '' Lepidagathis backeri''
* '' Lepidagathis calycina''
* '' Lepidagathis cristata''
* ''Lepidagathis cuspidata''
* '' Lep ...
'', ''Lepidagathis incurva
''Lepidagathis'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae.
Selected species
* '' Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis''
* '' Lepidagathis backeri''
* '' Lepidagathis calycina''
* '' Lepidagathis cristata''
* ''Lepidagathis cuspidata
''Lepi ...
'', ''Nelsonia canescens
''Nelsonia canescens'' is a herbaceous plant species in the family Acanthaceae
Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are tropical herbs, shrub ...
'', '' Ophiorrhiza japonica'', ''Phyla nodiflora
''Phyla nodiflora'', the frog fruit, sawtooth fogfruit, or turkey tangle, is a flowering plant in the family Verbenaceae, and is native to the area from northern South America to southern United States. It can be found in tropical areas around th ...
'', ''Ruellia tuberosa
''Ruellia tuberosa'', also known as minnieroot, fever root, snapdragon root and sheep potato ( th, ต้อยติ่ง), is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. Its native range is in Central America but presently it has ...
'', ''Sida rhombifolia
''Sida rhombifolia'', commonly known as arrowleaf sida, is a perennial or sometimes annual plant in the Family Malvaceae, native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. Other common names include rhombus-leaved sida, Paddy's lucerne, jelly le ...
'', and '' Strobilanthes formosanus''.[HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/hostplants/) accessed on September 13, 2007.]
See also
*List of butterflies of India
The following is a list of the butterflies of India.
India has extremely diverse terrain, climate and vegetation, which comprises extremes of heat cold, desert and jungle, of low-lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, i ...
Notes
References
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*
*
*
*
External links
*
Sri Lanka Wild Life Information Database
{{Taxonbar, from=Q714543
lemonias
Butterflies described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Butterflies of Asia