Baron

Baron

Euthalia aconthea meridionalis

Fruhstorfer NYMPHALIDAE

(= Euthalia garuda ( Moore))

Adult

Upperside dark olive-brown. FW male dark brown at the base with 3 U- shaped marginal bands and 2 groups of white spots. HW with pinkish tinge at the anterior border, 4 black spots at the base and a submarginal row of black spots. Female olive brown, similar to male but with larger white markings and more rounded HW. Underside grayish brown with grey markings at the apex and base, marked as above, black spots along the wing margins and blackish rings at the base. Wingspan 55-80mm.

The most widely distributed species of Euthalia in South India, more in the forests. As mango, its principal host plant is cultivated everywhere, it is now very common even in cities and crowded markets, on rotten vegetables and fruits, toddy, plant sap and damp patches. Highly territorial in habit, it often returns to the same spot again and again.

Larva

Green with red spotted head, pale dorsal line dotted with blue and white spots and 10 pairs of long, laterally projecting, delicate branched spines. While resting on leaves, it positions its body along the midrib and lateral spines parallel to the leaf veins, thus mimicking the leaf perfectly.

Feeds on mango, cashewnut, white bryony, rose, mulberry, loranthus, etc.

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Sundaland.