Butterfly: Chocolate pansy (Junonia iphita) 黯眼蛺蝶

When we were in Taiwan, our friends took us to hike the Erziping Trail in Yangmingshan National Park on June 28, 2022. I saw a Chocolate pansy. This multi-toned brown Nymphalidae butterfly may not be pretty. But in my eyes, its pattern is like the tree ring in the trunk and it is pleasing to my eyes. Junonia iphita, the chocolate pansy or chocolate soldier, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family of Nymphalidae found in Asia such as Taiwan, South Asia, Himalayas, Southern China and Indochina Peninsula. It inhabits evergreen broad-leaved forests. This butterfly is abundant in the scrublands, roadside vegetation, parks and forest openings. For more than one generation a year, they often fly low to the ground. The larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the family Acanthaceae such as Strobilanthes and Hygrophila salicifolia.
我們在臺灣的時候,2022 年 6 月 28 日朋友帶我們去陽明山國家公園的二子坪步道健行。在這裏我看到黯眼蛺蝶。這種棕色的蛺蝶科蝴蝶在大多數人眼中可能並不漂亮,但在我眼裏牠的花紋有如樹幹中的年輪,還滿賞心悅目的。黯眼蛺蝶又名鉤翅眼蛺蝶,黑擬蛺蝶。是一種在亞洲的中型蝴蝶,屬蛺蝶科。分布於臺灣、南亞、喜瑪拉雅、中國大陸南部、東南亞、中南半島等地區。主要棲息在常綠闊葉林。在灌木叢、路邊植被、公園和森林空地中可看到它們。一年多代,常近地面低飛。幼蟲取食爵床科各種馬藍及水蓑衣等植物的葉片。

Photo Date: 2022.06.28 Location: Erziping Trail, Yangmingshan National Park, Taiwan

Notes 筆記

  • Junonia iphita, the chocolate pansy or chocolate soldier, is a medium-sized butterfly in the family of Nymphalidae found in Asia such as Taiwan, South Asia, Himalayas, Southern China and Indochina Peninsula.
  • The wingspan is about 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in) and the female can be told apart from the male by white markings on the oblique line on the underside of the hindwing. The wavy lines on the underside of the wings vary from wet- to dry-season forms.
  • It inhabits evergreen broad-leaved forests. This butterfly is abundant in the scrublands, roadside vegetation, parks and forest openings. For more than one generation a year, they often fly low to the ground and visit flowers.
  • It likes to fly in sunny open spaces in spite of its dark brown colour which can be used as a marvellous camouflage technique on gloomy forest floors. This is a migrant species.
  • The larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the family Acanthaceae such as Strobilanthes and Hygrophila salicifolia.
  • 黯眼蛺蝶又名鉤翅眼蛺蝶,黑擬蛺蝶。是一種在亞洲的中型蝴蝶,屬蛺蝶科。分布於臺灣、南亞、喜瑪拉雅、中國大陸南部、東南亞、中南半島等地區。
  • 翼展約為 5-6 公分(2.0-2.4 英吋),雌性與雄性可以透過後翅下側斜線上的白色斑紋來區分。翅膀下側的波浪線從濕季到旱季的形式各不相同。
  • 主要棲息在常綠闊葉林。在灌木叢、路邊植被、公園和森林空地中可看到它們。一年多代,常近地面低飛,會訪花。
  • 雖然它的深棕色顏色可以在陰暗的森林地面上用作奇妙的偽裝技術,但它喜歡在陽光明媚的開放空間中飛行。這是一種遷移物種。
  • 幼蟲取食爵床科各種馬藍及水蓑衣等植物的葉片。寄主植物:爵床科之臺灣馬藍、蘭崁馬藍、曲莖馬藍、長穗馬藍、大安水蓑衣、易生木等。

Insects Posts 昆蟲的帖子

References 參考資料