Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Blue Pansy
Junonia orithya
LINNAEUS, 1758
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
NYMPHALINAE
Tribe - JUNONIINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Junonia orithya wallacei,
female, Gopeng,
West Malaysia |
Introduction
The genus
Junonia comprises about 33 species, of which 11 occur in
the Oriental region. Of these, 7 are found in West Malaysia -
iphita,
hedonia, atlites,
orithya,
hierta, almana and
lemonias.
Junonia orithya is typical of the
genus, being brightly marked with blue and orange, and
possessing prominent ocelli. It is a fairly common species,
although never as abundant as its duller relatives
iphita,
hedonia and atlites. The
butterfly is found in sub-Saharan Africa, Arabia, and over most
of the Oriental and Australian regions.
Both sexes are
similar in colour and pattern, but the male has more extensive
areas of blue, and smaller ocelli on the hindwings.
Habitats
This species, like most others in the genus, is found mainly in
open habitats. In Africa I have found the butterflies common on
open savannah country in the dry season, but in Malaysia they tend
to be seen in degraded and disturbed situations such as along
roadsides, on farmland, in quarries and in open grassy forest
clearings. This is mainly a lowland species, found
at elevations between sea level and about 300 metres.
Lifecycle
The green, barrel-shaped eggs are laid singly on the underside
of leaves of the foodplants.
The larva when fully grown is black with minute yellow spots,
and covered in short multi-branched spines. The head is orange,
with a pair of short black spines. It feeds
diurnally on the foliage of herbaceous plants including
Justicia,
Hypoestes,
Lepidagathis,
Thunbergia,
Rostellularia,
Hygrophila,
Asystasia, Pseuderanthenum, Barleria
( Acanthaceae ),
Convolvulus,
Ipomoea, ( Convolvulaceae ),
Angelonia ( Scrophulariaceae ),
Lippia, ( Verbenaceae ),
Buchnera, ( Orobanchaceae ),
Plantago,
Antirrhinum ( Plantaginaceae ) and
doubtless many other genera and species.
The chrysalis
is brown, mottled with greyish, and has yellowish-brown wing
cases. The back is studded with tiny thorn-like tubercules. It
is suspended by the cremaster from dry stems.
Adult behaviour
Blue Pansies
fly swiftly, usually over short distances, interspersed with
short periods spent basking on the ground or on foliage, at
which time they usually hold their wings fully outspread.
Both sexes
nectar at a wide variety of wild or cultivated flowers. Males
also visit rotting fruit, and in Tanzania I have seen groups of
them at elephant dung in the Serengeti.
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