Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: mimicry

Common Mormon

07 May 2010 187
I'm still posting butterfly images taken in the ENMAX Conservatory at the Calgary Zoo : ) Butterflies are only there for part of the year, so I want to make the most of the chance to see and photograph these beauties. This is a female. Weather has been so bad for a while and I need sunlight to pour in through all the glass windows, so I haven't been over for another visit yet. "The Common Mormon Papilio polytes is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia. This butterfly is known for the mimicry displayed by the numerous forms of its females which mimic inedible Red-bodied Swallowtails, such as the Common Rose and the Crimson Rose .... The male has one morph only. It is a dark-coloured swallow-tailed butterfly. The upper forewing has a series of white spots decreasing in size towards the apex. The upper hindwing has a complete discal band of elongated white spots. It may or may not have marginal red crescents. The males are smaller in size than the females. The female of the Common Mormon is polymorphic. In South Asia, it has three forms or morphs." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Mormon