Cryptic colors for concealment

The species on this page is the amazing leaf butterfly. It belongs to the genus Kallima under the tribe Chersonesia/Nymphalidae and native to the Indo-Malaysian region .Those found in the Peninsular are limborgii which earlier was treated as a subspecies of the Javaese K. paralekta.

This butterfly is excellent example of natural camouflage in the animal’s Kingdom.

When the butterfly is resting, the fore and the hind wings together project the look of a large elliptical leaf, complete with the necessary details such as ‘blemishes’ and patches of ‘moulds’.

When in flight or at rest with open wings, the butterfly is conspicuous. with rich purple-blue with a broad orange band on the forewings. The underside is usually dark brown resembling a dead leaf. It is extremely elusive, when disturbed it darts off and settles again with closed wings in a position among leaves that makes it difficult to distinguish from any other dead leaves. Attempts to collect it, as a sample is near impossible as the camouflage work so well that by the time you go too near for a closer examination, it has time to take off. A tested method to capture it, is by the use of fruit bait.

We were in luck as the apple fragrances from Khoo's haversack had confused the poor insect to shed its usual inhibition and stayed with us for while to have several pictures taken.

The variability of this species is enormous and is claimed that the chances of getting two butterflies with identical underside are remote. Variation however is not indefinite and experts also found that there are only 8-10 forms in various combinations. It imply that the underside pattern is not random rather a result of interaction of a number of genes.