Kallima horsfieldi
Encyclopedia
The South Indian Blue Oakleaf (Kallima horsfieldii) is a nymphalid
butterfly found in India
. The underside appears like a leaf complete with midrib while the upperside is brilliantly coloured.
, with a dark brown subterminal zigzag line, commencing below vein 3 on the fore wing.
Underside as in Kallima inachus
simulating a dry leaf, but the resemblance on the whole is perhaps less perfect. Antennae dark brown; head, thorax and abdomen very dark greenish brown; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen ochraceous earthy brown.
Wing expanse 84-120mm.
Ceylon dry-season specimens range the largest, but are otherwise indistinguishable from specimens from the Nilgiris in the British Museum collection, while specimens of the small wet-season form from Ceylon are absolutely identical with specimens of K. wardi Moore, regarded by the author himself as the wet-season form of K. horsfieldi. Again, the type of K. alompra Moore, is now in the British Museum, and in shades of colour and in markings it is absolutely inseparable from many specimens of the wet-season form of horsfieldii as are also the two specimens in the Hewitsonian collection mentioned by Moore, and a specimen from ; East Pegu, collected by Doherty, in the Godman-Salvin collection.
)... " (Davidson & Aitken
)
Nymphalidae
The Nymphalidae is a family of about 5,000 species of butterflies which are distributed throughout most of the world. These are usually medium sized to large butterflies. Most species have a reduced pair of forelegs and many hold their colourful wings flat when resting. They are also called...
butterfly found in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The underside appears like a leaf complete with midrib while the upperside is brilliantly coloured.
Dry season form
Males and females indigo-blue. Fore wing; with a broad, oblique, slightly curved, sinuous-edged, pale blue band, turning to white on the anterior half; the distance measured on the costa of the outer edge of thin band greater than half the length of the wing from the base; its inner margin bordered by short, obliquely-placed, detached linear black markings; apical area beyond the band jet-black, with a preapical whites spot; medial hyaline spots, the lower varying in size, in interspaces 2 and 3. Hind wing uniform, the costa and apex broadly and the abdominal fold brown ; vein 1 with long soft greyish-brown hairs along its length,extending also over the abdominal fold. Fore and hind wings as in Kallima inachusKallima inachus
The Orange Oakleaf or Dead Leaf is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular example of camouflage.-Description:...
, with a dark brown subterminal zigzag line, commencing below vein 3 on the fore wing.
Underside as in Kallima inachus
Kallima inachus
The Orange Oakleaf or Dead Leaf is a nymphalid butterfly found in tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a spectacular example of camouflage.-Description:...
simulating a dry leaf, but the resemblance on the whole is perhaps less perfect. Antennae dark brown; head, thorax and abdomen very dark greenish brown; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen ochraceous earthy brown.
Wet-season form
Males and females similar. Differs in the colour of the discal band on the upperside of the forewing; this is of a uniform pale blue of a slightly lighter or darker shade, varying individually, but not turning to white towards the costal margin as in the dry-season specimens. Underside: ground-colour on the whole darker than in the dry-season form, but with the same protective colouring.Wing expanse 84-120mm.
Ceylon dry-season specimens range the largest, but are otherwise indistinguishable from specimens from the Nilgiris in the British Museum collection, while specimens of the small wet-season form from Ceylon are absolutely identical with specimens of K. wardi Moore, regarded by the author himself as the wet-season form of K. horsfieldi. Again, the type of K. alompra Moore, is now in the British Museum, and in shades of colour and in markings it is absolutely inseparable from many specimens of the wet-season form of horsfieldii as are also the two specimens in the Hewitsonian collection mentioned by Moore, and a specimen from ; East Pegu, collected by Doherty, in the Godman-Salvin collection.
Larva
"Cylindrical, finely pubescent, armed with nine longitudinal rows of fine branched spines ; head surmounted by two long straight horns set with minute spines; colour a beautiful golden brown, spines red, head black. We found one specimen of this in July on Karvee (StrobilanthesStrobilanthes
Strobilanthes is a genus of about 250 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, mostly native to tropical Asia, but with a few species extending north into temperate regions of Asia.Selected species...
)... " (Davidson & Aitken
Edward Hamilton Aitken
Edward Hamilton Aitken was a civil servant in India, better known for his humorist writings on natural history in India and as a founding member of the Bombay Natural History Society...
)