108. Polyura athamas athamas (The Common Nawab)

Number: 108

Family: Nymphaliidae
Sub-Family: Charaxiinae

Species: Polyura athamas athamas (Drury, 1773)

Common name(s): The Common Nawab

Photography location: Cuc Phuong N.P. (Ninh Binh 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 athamas are medium-sized, heavy-bodies butterflies with rapid, strong and sometimes erratic flights. It has a habit of perching high on a spot in a tree, and keeps returning to the same perch after making swift flights in the vicinity to chase intruders away. The adults have also been observed to puddle on wet ground, carrion, faeces and tree sap.

Polyura athamas - my sweaty camera bag was a fine bait!

Mud-puddling with some Vindula erota (Cuc Phuong, May 2016)

An individual feeding on a serpent's carcass (Cuc Phuong, May 2016), showing a "weird" wing pattern

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