Gulf Fritillary

The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, a striking, bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, subfamily Heliconiinae. These were formerly classified in a separate family, the Heliconiidae or longwing butterflies, and like other longwings this species does have long, rather narrow wings in comparison with other butterflies. It is not closely related to the true fritillaries. It is a medium to large butterfly, with a wingspan of from 6 to 9.5 cm. Its underwings are buff, with large silvery spots. It takes its name from the fact that migrating flights of the butterflies are sometimes seen over the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf Fritillary is commonly seen in parks and gardens, as well as in open country. Its range extends from Argentina through Central America Mexico, and the West Indies to the southern United States, as far north as the San Francisco Bay Area on the west coast. It is occasionally found further north in the US.

European Peacock

The European Peacock (Inachis io), more commonly known simply as the Peacock, is a well-known colourful butterfly, found in temperate Europe and Asia. It is the only member of the genus Inachis which is sometimes included in Nymphalis. It should not be confused or classified with the "American peacocks" in the genus Anartia; these are not close relatives of the present species. The peacock butterfly is resident in much of its range, often wintering in buildings or trees. It therefore often appears quite early in spring.

The butterfly measures about 5 cm (2 in) from wingtip to wingtip and is easily identified by its striking eye pattern on a ruddy background, although with wings closed the cryptically coloured dark underwings make it look like a dead leaf. The eyespots are reminiscent of those on the feathers of a peacock, hence the name. The eyespots are exposed when the butterfly is disturbed by a potential predator (such as a bird) in a startling anti-predator display. The butterflies flick their wings open and make a hissing noise. The open wings create an impression of the face of a mammal such as a cat, and this deters the predator for long enough for the butterfly to escape.(Stevens 2005)

The butterfly hibernates over winter before laying its eggs in early spring, in batches of up to 500 at a time. The caterpillars, which are shiny black with six rows of barbed spikes and a series of white dots on each segment, hatch after about a week and feed on nettles and hops. The adult butterflies drink nectar from a wide variety of flowering plants, including buddleia, sallows, dandelions, wild marjoram, danewort, hemp agrimony, and clover; they also utilize tree sap and rotten fruit.

The Peacock can be found in woods, fields, meadows, pastures, parks, and gardens, and from lowlands up to 8,200 feet elevation. It is a relatively common butterfly seen in many European parks and gardens.

Owl Butterfly _ Cailigo memnon

Owl Butterfly

Owl butterflies, of which there are around 20 different species, are members of the genus Caligo, in the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. They are found in the rainforests and secondary forests of Central and South America.

The name is derived from the presence of large "eyespots" (ocelli) on the underside of the hindwings. To a human observer of dead butterflies pinned up in a collection, owl butterflies' underwings resemble the head of an owl when the butterfly is held head down. It was speculated that the ocelli are "false eyes" to scare smaller birds that attempt to prey on the butterfly.

There is no evidence that the function of the ocelli is to resemble an owl. The position in which the owl-like appearance occurs is not generally assumed by the butterfly in life. In its resting position, Calico settle down with closed wings like most butterflies, showing only one of the eyespots, and do not look owl-like.

The actual significance of the ocelli remains elusive (Stevens 2005). In some butterflies, particularly Satyrinae (such as the Gatekeeper Butterfly and the Grayling), it has been shown that ocelli serve as a decoy, diverting bird attack away from the vulnerable body, and towards the outer part of the hindwings or the forewing tip. Owl butterflies have been observed with large chunks missing from their hindwings[citation needed]. On the other hand, decoy ocelli are almost always small and located near the margin of the wing, where the damage caused by a bird's beak would interfere little with the butterfly flying and going about its life. The position and size of the owl butterflies' ocelli makes them a decidedly suboptimal decoy, as they are far too close to the abdomen in resting position to ensure no substantial damage is inflicted by a bird snapping at them.

The underwing pattern is highly cryptic. They rest on tree trunks and large branches, and at least to human observers, when seen from a distance the eyespot and the surrounding dark area do not compromise their superb camouflage. As many birds are able to see in the ultraviolet, more research is needed to determine how the eyespot pattern is perceived by the actual predators. In any case, at fairly close range the most visible thing about a resting owl butterfly is certainly a dark patch containing a single "false eye".

Owl butterflies are very large, and fly only a few metres at a time, so avian predators have little difficulty in following them to their settling place. However, the butterflies preferentially fly around dusk, when few avian predators are around. Indeed, their main predators are apparently small lizards such as Anolis. It was suggested that the hindwing underside pattern actually resembles the head of a large a large Hyla tree frog, which prey on Anolis. This theory remains to be tested. It is known that many small animals hesitate to go near patterns resembling eyes with a light-colored iris and a large pupil, which matches the appearance of the eyes of many predators that hunt by sight. Thus, it is conceivable that the pattern is a generalized form of automimicry that would buy the butterfly time to escape from an approaching predator.

Cruiser (Vindula Erota)

The Cruiser (Vindula erota) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Wet-season form

Male Upperside bright orange-yellow. Fore wing olivaceous brown at base with the following black markings: three short sinuous transverse lines across the cell; the disco-cellulars with an inner and outer slender line; a lunular inner discal broken transverse line, a zigzag outer discal broken transverse line, a transverse inwardly curved series of postdiscal spots, those in interspaces 5 and 6 the largest, and an inner and an outer subterminal conspicuous zigzag narrow band. Hind wing with inner and outer discal black lines and inner and outer subterminal narrow black bands as on the fore wing, but the outer discal transverse line faint and ill-defined posteriorly; the space anteriorly between the two discal lines much paler yellow than the general ground-colour; in addition there is a dark straight postdiscal diffuse fascia with a superposed ocellus in interspaces 2 and 5 respectively, and a lilac spot at the tornal angle. Underside similar, the basal area enclosed by the inner discal line suffused with cinnabar-red, as is also the outer zigzag transverse ill-defined discal line. Forewing with, in addition, two cream-white preapical spots and a purplish suffusion between the two subterminal lines, the inner line straight, not zigzag; interspace 1a, and 1 posteriorly from base to inner subterminal line, paler than tho ground-colour. Hind wing with some additional transverse linear and loop-like slender black markings at base; a conspicuous, straight, transverse, narrow dark ferruginous postdiscal band, and a pale purplish suffusion beyond it between veins 2 and 5, not reaching the termen. Antennae dark ferruginous; head, thorax and abdomen olivaceous orange ; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen ochraceous.

Female upperside dull brown, the basal area of both fore and hind wings, on the inner side of a vertical transverse line from just beyond apex of cell in fore wing to vein 2 on the hind wing, suffused with olivaceous green; the terminal margin, broadly, of the hind wing suffused with reddish ochraceous ; a broad, posteriorly narrowing, discal white band inclined obliquely inwards from below the costa of the fore wing to vein 2 on the hind wing, conspicuously interrupted and crossed by the dark veins on the fore wing. Fore wing with the following dusky brownish-black markings: three short transverse sinuous lines crossing the cell; a sinuous line on either side of the discocellulars ; a broad line, interrupted by the veins, defining the inner side of the white discal band; a zigzag medial transverse line and a transverse series of very diffuse spots traversing the same band, followed by a postdiscal narrow band and a zigzag subterminal line ; finally, a conspicuous white preapical spot in interspace 7. Hind wing: a dusky-brown zigzag line along the outer margin of the white discal band ; a diffuse broad postdiscal transverse shading, bearing a white-centred, dusky-brown, ochraceous-ringed ocellus, in interspaces 2 and 5 respectively, followed by an inner subterminal lunular band and an outer subterminal zigzag line of brownish black; the abdominal fold ochraceous. Underside very similar to that in the male, but differs as follows :— ground-colour ochraceous yellow, the basal area on both fore and hind wings darker ochraceous without any tinge of cinnabar-red ; all the markings similar as to form to those in the male, but chestnut-brown ; the ocelli on the hind wing larger, but otherwise similar. Antennae dark ochraceous, turning to brownish black on the apical half; palpi ochraceous ; head, thorax and abdomen olivaceous green; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen pale ochraceous.

Dry-season form

Smaller than the wet-season form, the tail at apex of vein 4 in the hind wing very much shorter as a rule.

Male: Upper and undersides similar to those in the wet-season form, but the groundcolour very much paler; on the underside entirely suffused with pale cinnabar-red ; the markings smaller, often more or less obsolescent, always more faintly defined; above, the markings are dusky brownish black, beneath pale chestnut-red; the pale purplish suffusion on the terminal margins of both fore and hind wings on the underside, so conspicuous in the wet-season form, entirely wanting.

Female: Differs very remarkably from the wet-season form. Upperside: fore and hind wings with a very broad pale ochraceous-white discal band from costa of fore wing to the dorsal margin just above the tornus on the hind wing, narrowing posteriorly on the latter wing. Fore wing: basal area olivaceous green on the inner side of the discal band, as in the wet-season form, but the space between the outer two of the three dusky transverse lines crossing the cell ochraceous: the medial zigzag line and the series of diffuse spots traversing the discal band very ill-defined. Hind wing: basal area ochraceous, owing to the colour of the underside showing through by transparency; a very pale shading of olivaceous green at base of cell; terminal portion of the wing beyond the discal band bright ochraceous ; the postdiscal ocelli and the inner and outer subterminal dark lines as in the wet-season form.

Underside: ground-colour pale yellow ; the basal area on both fore and hind wings suffused with cinnabar-red; the markings similar to those in the wet-season form, but very much fainter and paler. Antennae ochraceous, palpi and a line behind the eyes cinnabar-red; head, thorax and abdomen olivaceous green, beneath bright ochraceous.