Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Common Nawab
Polyura athamas
DRURY, 1773
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CHARAXINAE
Tribe - CHARAXINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Polyura athamas,
Ulu Gerok,
West Malaysia |
Introduction
There are 24 species in the genus Polyura,
most of which are found in the Oriental region, although one
species posidonius is restricted to
Tibet and west China; 6 or 7 are endemic to various islands,
e.g. andrewsi from Christmas Island
and caphontis from Fiji; and one,
pyrrhus reaches Queensland in
Australia.
The butterflies
are characterised by their distinctive wing shape with twin
tails on the hindwings, a feature strongly reminiscent of the
African Charaxes. Most have dark
brown uppersides with bands of dazzling creamy white which vary
in size and shape from one species to another. These bands are
repeated on the underside, usually in a beautiful shade of pale
green. In a few species such as delphis
the underside is almost entirely white.
There are 7
species occuring in Malaysia -
athamas,
delphis, eudamippus,
hebe, jalysus,
moori and
schreiber. Polyura athamas
is the most frequently encountered member of this group, and as
well as in Malaysia it occurs in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Tibet,
Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Laos, Taiwan, Brunei,
Kalimantan, the Philippines, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, Lombok and
Timor.
Habitats
This species is found in forested areas at elevations between
sea level and about 400 metres.
Lifecycle
The egg is spherical, shiny and yellow. It is laid on the
underside of leaves of the foodplants.
The caterpillar
when fully grown is dark green with 3 prominent white diagonal
stripes, and several thinner stripes, all of which converge on
the back to form a series of V shapes. It has a large head with
a flat face, adorned with a crown of 4 impressive long horns. It
feeds nocturnally on the foliage of various trees and shrubs
including Albizia,
Acacia,
Abarema, Adenanthera,
Delonix, Peltophorum and
Leucaena
( Fabaceae ), Grewia ( Malvaceae ),
and Caesalpinia ( Caesalpinaceae ).
The chrysalis
is green, streaked with white on the abdomen and wing cases, and
has a plump, rounded and compressed abdomen. It is attached by a
stout pedunculate cremaster to a twig or stem on or near the
foodplant.
Adult behaviour
Females are
very rarely seen and probably spend most of their lives high in
the forest canopy.
Males are
common and often seen imbibing mineralised moisture from damp
sand, gravel, or road surfaces. It is not uncommon to see 2 or 3
males of athamas or other
Polyura species aggregating on the
ground, feeding avidly at dung. When feeding they are almost
oblivious of humans, but if deliberately disturbed they fly up
to settle on tree foliage nearby, and return as soon as they
sense danger has passed. The flight is very rapid and powerful.
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