20 May 2014

Butterflies Galore! : Cruiser

Butterflies Galore!
The Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella)



This medium sized butterfly is regularly seen in the forests in Singapore. With a wingspan of about 70-80 mm, the brightly-coloured orange male is very noticeable when it flutters amongst the shrubbery and along forest paths. Males are a rich fulvous orange above, with a paler discal band. The underside is similarly coloured, but paler, with a distinct brown post-discal stripe across both wings.

The species exhibits sexual dimorphism, where the female is pale-greenish grey with a prominent post-discal white band across both wings. The ocelli on the female's wings are larger and orange-ringed. Both sexes have a short pointed tail at vein 4 of the hindwing. The male is often encountered puddling at sandy streambanks in the forested nature reserves as is shown here. More photos of the Cruiser can be found here.

4 comments:

  1. "...wingspan of about 70-80 cm..."

    Wow! ;-))

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