Junonia lemonias

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}} {{Speciesbox | name = Lemon pansy | image = Junonia lemonias - Lemon Pansy 25.jpg | image_caption = Wet-season form, upperside | image2 = Junonia lemonias - Lemon Pansy 18.jpg | image2_caption = Wet-season form, underside | taxon = Junonia lemonias | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = *''Papilio lemonias'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Papilio aonis'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Precis lemonias'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = *''J. l. lemonias'' *''J. l. vaisya'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) }}

'''''Junonia lemonias''''', the '''lemon pansy''',<ref name=Smetacek/><ref name=funet/> is a common nymphalid butterfly found in Cambodia and South Asia.<ref name=Smetacek>{{Cite book|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287980260|title=A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India |last1=Varshney |first1=R.K. |last2=Smetacek|first2=Peter|publisher=Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi|year=2015|isbn=978-81-929826-4-9|location=New Delhi|pages=219|doi=10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164}}</ref><ref name=funet>{{cite web |last=Savela |first=Markku |url=http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/nymphalinae/junonia/#lemonias |title=''Junonia lemonias'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |website=Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms |access-date=July 2, 2018}}</ref> It is found in gardens, fallow land, and open wooded areas.

==Description== It is brown with numerous eyespots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black. There is also an eyespot on the lower side of the forewing. The wet- and dry-season forms differ considerably in coloration and even shape. In the wet-season form the markings are distinct and vivid and the wing shape is a little more rounded. In the dry-season form the markings are obscure and pale especially on the underside and the wing margin is more angular and jagged. This helps it camouflage in the dried leaf litter.<ref name="Bingham"/>

The lemon pansy is a very active butterfly and can be seen basking with its wings open facing the sun. It sits very low to the ground and can be approached easily. It feeds with its wings half open. It is a fairly strong flier and flies close to the ground with rapid wingbeats and often returns to settle back in the same spots.<ref name="Bingham">{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/butterfliesvolii00bing#page/356/mode/2up/ |title=Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 1|last=Bingham|first=Charles Thomas|author-link=Charles Thomas Bingham|year=1905|pages=357–358}}}}</ref><ref name=MooreIndica>{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/103628#page/87/mode/1up|title=Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. IV|last=Moore|first=Frederic|author-link=Frederic Moore|publisher=Lovell Reeve and Co.|year=1899–1900|location=London|pages=75–77}}}}</ref>

<gallery> File:Junonia lemonias DSF upper by Kadavoor.JPG|Dry-season form, upperside File:Junonia lemonias DSF by Kadavoor.JPG|Dry-season form, underside File:White crab spider preying on pansy.JPG|White crab spider preying on a lemon pansy File:Egg of Junonia lemonias (Linnaeus, 1758) - Lemon Pansy.jpg|Egg

File:Junonia lemonias - Lemon Pansy pupa 06.jpg|Pupa </gallery>

==Life cycle==

===Eggs=== Eggs are laid singly on the underside of leaves. The egg is green and barrel shaped with longitudinal ridges.

===Caterpillar=== The caterpillar is cylindrical, uniformly thick and covered with rows of spines which are branched at the tip. It is dull black with a faint blue sheen and has dorsal stripe of a darker color. There is a distinct orange ring behind the head. The caterpillar stays on the underside of the leaf and if disturbed, rolls up and drops to the ground.<ref name="Bingham"/>

===Pupa=== Pupation takes place in dense foliage close to the ground. The pupa is compact, with small conical processes on its rough surface. The pupa is well camouflaged with varying shades of brown with fine streaks and lines.<ref name="Bingham"/>

===Food plants=== Caterpillars feed on plants from the families Acanthaceae, Amaranthaceae, Malvaceae, Rubiaceae, Tiliaceae and Verbenaceae. Recorded species include ''Alternanthera sessilis'', ''Barleria cristata'', ''Barleria prionitis'', ''Blechum pyramidatum'', ''Cannabis sativa'', ''Corchorus capsularis'', ''Dyschoriste repens'', ''Eranthemum pulchellum'', ''Hemigraphis schomburgkii'', ''Hygrophila auriculata'', ''Hygrophila costata'', ''Hygrophila lancea'', ''Lepidagathis formosensis'', ''Lepidagathis incurva'', ''Nelsonia canescens'', ''Ophiorrhiza japonica'', ''Phyla nodiflora'', ''Ruellia tuberosa'', ''Sida rhombifolia'', and ''Strobilanthes formosanus''.<ref>HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/projects/hostplants/) accessed on September 13, 2007.</ref>

==See also== *List of butterflies of India

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=W.H. |author-link=William Harry Evans |title=The Identification of Indian Butterflies |edition=2nd |location=Mumbai, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |year=1932}} * {{cite book |last1=Gay |first1=Thomas |last2=Kehimkar |first2=Isaac David |last3=Punetha |first3=Jagdish Chandra |title=Common Butterflies of India |series=Nature Guides |publisher= World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press |location=Bombay, India |year=1992 |isbn=978-0195631647}} * {{cite book |last=Haribal |first=Meena |title=The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History |location=Gangtok, Sikkim, India |publisher=Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation |year=1992}} * {{cite book |last=Kunte |first=Krushnamegh |title=Butterflies of Peninsular India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cuPPjOMcu_4C |series=India, A Lifescape |location=Hyderabad, India |publisher=Universities Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-8173713545}} * {{cite book|last=Wynter-Blyth |first=Mark Alexander |author-link=Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth |title=Butterflies of the Indian Region |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yEkgAQAAMAAJ |year=1957 |location=Bombay, India |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society |isbn=978-8170192329}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{Wikispecies inline|Junonia}} *{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110718052250/http://www.wildreach.com/butterflies/Junonia_lemonias.php Sri Lanka Wild Life Information Database]}}

lemonias Category:Butterflies described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Category:Butterflies of Indochina