Dec 19, 2020

swallowtail butterfly at Ulavi

This lovely creature is a swallowtail butterfly, a Blue mormon seen at Ulavi deep inside the Western Ghats jungles. This large butterfly is a graceful flier. It is said to be a pollinator.

It was around 2- 30, we were resting at Sri Veerabhadra Gudi when Pushpa spotted it. The butterfly was gathering nectar from a peacock flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) tree in full bloom.

These are a few lucky shots since the space was limited and sometimes the butterfly would fly around the other side of the tree. It has a blue patch on the upper side which was out of sight most times.


This is one of my favorite shots. The posture is a perfect symmetry, almost perfect.

The only shot when its wing span at its max. The dark part of the wings have blue patches hence the name Blue mormon.

During our stay at Ulavi and drive through the jungle, I spotted three more Blue mormon. Wondering how many are there deeper inside the jungles away from human beings.
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