#2 - Lemon Pansy Junonia lemonias Linnaeus, 1758

Lemon Pansy Junonia lemonias Linnaeus, 1758

Junonia lemonias, the lemon pansy, is a common nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. It is found in gardens, fallow land, and open wooded areas.

Description

It is brown with numerous eye-spots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black. There is also an eyespot on the lower side of the forewing. The wet and dry-season forms differ considerably in coloration and even shape. In the wet-season form the markings are distinct and vivid and the wing shape is a little more rounded. In the dry-season form the markings are obscure and pale especially on the underside and the wing margin is more angular and jagged. This helps it camouflage in the dried leaf-litter. The lemon pansy is a very active butterfly and can be seen basking with its wings open facing the sun. It sits very low to the ground and can be approached easily. It feeds with its wings half open. It is a fairly strong flier and flies close to the ground with rapid wing beats and often returns to settle back in the same spots.

An adult Lemon Pansy basking in the sun.

Food plants
Caterpillars feed on plants from the families Acanthaceae,  Amaranthaceae,  Malvaceae,  Rubiaceae, Tiliaceae and Verbenaceae. Recorded species include Alternanthera sessilis, Barleria cristata, Barleria prionitis, Blechum pyramidatum, Cannabis sativa, Corchorus capsularis, Dyschoriste repens, Eranthemum pulchellum, Hemigraphis schomburgkii, Hygrophila auriculata, Hygrophila costata, Hygrophila lancea, Lepidagathis formosensis, Lepidagathis incurva, Nelsonia canescens, Ophiorrhiza japonica, Phyla nodiflora, Ruellia tuberosa, Sida rhombifolia, and Strobilanthes formosanus.

Sightings in Manipur

The butterfly is sighted throughout the hills and valley of Manipur. The butterfly is a sun-loving butterfly always seen basking on the sun during bright sunny days. They prefer to visit flowers of varied kinds and also seen on damp grounds. The butterfly was observed from many locations during the survey. Some of the places to be mentioned here are Shiroi Village, Shirui Guest House, Sihai (Ukhrul district); Khundrakpam village, Marjing Reserve Forest, Kongbamaru, (Imphal East district); Langol Reserve Forest (Imphal West); Nambol, Keibul Lamjao National Park, Leimaram (Bishnupur district). They are observed during the months of February, March, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. 

References

• Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
• Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac David; Punetha, Jagdish Chandra (1992). Common Butterflies of India. Nature Guides. Bombay, India: World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195631647.
• Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junonia_lemonias