Wednesday 19 August 2015

107. Polyura nepenthes nepenthes (The Shan Nawab)

Number: 107
Family: Nymphaliidae
Sub-Family: Charaxiinae
Species: Polyura nepenthes nepenthes (Grose-Smith, 1883)
Common name(s): The Shan Nawab
Photography location: Tam Dao foothills (Vinh Phuc Prov.)

The genus Polyura  is represented in Vietnam by 10 species – athamas, arja, moori, jalysus, delphis, narcaea, eudamippus, nepenthes, dolon and shreiber (Monastyrskii & Devyatkin, 2016).

Polyura nepenthes is a species I have seen only one time. I managed to get a few record shots only from a distance of 2 meters. It flew away when I tried to get a closer look. I presume that it is not rare but spend most of its life in the forest canopy.

Polyura nepenthes puddling on wet ground, first slopes of Tam Dao (August 2015)
It's a shame that it's in such bad condition, because it's a very beautiful butterfly and this is the only time I've ever seen one

A glimpse of the underwing pattern

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