''Rathinda'' is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

genus in the family

Lycaenidae Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies (behind Nymphalidae, brush-footed butterflies), with over 6,000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies. They constitute about 30% of the known butterf ...

. It consists of a single species, ''Rathinda amor'', the monkey puzzle, found in Sri Lanka and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

."''Rathinda'' Moore, [1881]"
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''

Description

Habitat

The species is endemic to South Asia, specifically

's Western Ghats, the southern Indian plains,

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, and Sri Lanka. It thrives in jungles of moderate to heavy rainfall and scrub forests below . It prefers the undergrowth but can be seen along forest paths and clearings. It can also be seen in gardens with one or more of its host plants.

Life cycle

Larva

The

caterpillars Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Symp ...

are pale green and possess fleshy, red protrusions along the back.

Pupa

The chrysalis is green and turns brown as it nears maturity. 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 attached to foliage by a single stalk at the tail end.

Imago

The monkey puzzle is a weak flier. It keeps low to the ground and generally does not stay airborne for long. When it lands, it tends to turn around, sidestep, and waggle its tail filaments. This may serve to confuse predators as to which end is the butterfly's head.

Food plants

The butterfly feeds on soapberries, myrtles, and

mangos A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South ...

as well as plants from the families

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 ...

(Notably ''

Ixora coccinea ''Ixora coccinea'' (also known as jungle geranium, flame of the woods or jungle flame or pendkuli) is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It h ...

''), Dipterocarpeae,

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of a genus in the family. Most spurges, such as '' Euphorbia paralias'', are herbs, but some, ...

, and

Loranthaceae Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are '' Nuytsia floribunda'' (the ...

References

* * * * * * * Shihan, T.R. (2016) ''A Photographic Guide to the Butterflies of Bangladesh''. Butterfly Reintroduction Farm, Chuadanga, Bangladesh. {{Taxonbar, from1=Q7295641, from2=Q1768690 Butterflies of Asia Monotypic butterfly genera Horagini Taxa named by Frederic Moore Lycaenidae genera