Idea malabarica
Overview
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
found in peninsular 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...
that belongs to the danaid group of the family Nymphalidae
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...
. It is found in forest clearings and above the forest canopy.
The Malabar Tree Nymph has a wingspan of 120–154 mm. It appears as a mostly white butterfly with black markings. Upperside semitransparent white, sometimes slightly infuscate with a powdering of black scales.
