Friends in My Garden- 23

Tailed Palmfly

Tailed palmfly

Tailed palmfly (Elymnias caudata) is a dweller of my garden and is seen in pairs during breeding season.  They appear brown while resting but when they take off, bright orange colour of the upper side of the hind wings is displayed.

As the name suggests, this butterfly prefers palm trees as host plant for the young ones. They are real gluttons and many times destroy the ornamental palm trees in my garden.

There is a tail-like projection on vein 4 of the hind wing that distinguishes these from Common palmfly.

These are pictured in my garden.

The darker one is the male

Caterpillar- on the underside of a palm leaf

Emerging from pupa