Random Gallery - Two Sergeants

Random Butterfly Gallery
Dot-Dash Sergeant and Colour Sergeant

This is a collage of two shots taken at the same location in Singapore. On the left is the Dot Dash Sergeant (Athyma kanwa kanwa) whilst the one on the right is the Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte subrata). Closely related, these two Sergeants appear very similar when in flight, and identification can only be reliably done when they stop to rest. The Dot-Dash Sergeant is a forest-dependent butterfly and rarely seen outside the confines of the nature reserves, whilst the Colour Sergeant is more widespread in distribution and appears as regularly at urban parks and gardens as well as in the forested areas.

Both species have a robust flap-glide flight characteristic, but flies more strongly than the lookalike Sailors. They have a habit of perching on high vantage points and then attacking intruders into their space. The female of the Dot-Dash Sergeant looks similar to the male, whilst for the Colour Sergeant, there are two female forms, one of which is brown and black striped, whilst the other is orange and black striped.