Neptis philyra

Characteristics

A Nymphalidae butterfly with three white lines on a dark brown background. It often perches on the ground with its wings open. The underside of the wings is a slightly pale brown, and the body appears to glow emerald green. In flight, it glides like a glider with its wings spread.

It is very similar to closely related butterflies such as the red-faced beetle and the beetle.

The difference between the red-throated butterfly

The red-throated butterfly and the red-throated butterfly are very similar in color and flight style. If you put the two species side by side, you can see that the size is different as the name suggests, but it is difficult to distinguish them at first glance.

The point of identification is the shape of the line closest to the head among the three white lines running on the wings. The first line of the red-eye butterfly is a thin sharp line from the body to the tip of the wing, but the line of the red-eye butterfly becomes thicker toward the tip of the wing. The silhouette of the wings of the red-spotted wing is more square, while that of the white-spotted wing has an impression of a rectangle.

Ecology

It occurs only once in early summer and mainly inhabits deciduous broad-leaved forests. It inhabits a narrow range compared to the red-faced squirrel. It glides over a slightly higher position, descends to wet ground, etc., and absorbs water. The larvae overwinter as larvae on trees such as Japanese maple.

Habitat

I took a picture of it absorbing water on the ground of a forest in Hachioji city. When I wrote an article about the closely related red-eared robin, I was able to recognize it immediately because I had researched how to distinguish it. When the wings are closed, it looks like a Nymphalidae, but when the wings are spread out, it gives the impression of being elongated.