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COMMON MIME / MIME
Papilio clytia
8.04835, 80.7275
Field Notes
Description:
Common Mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in south and south-east Asia. The butterfly belongs to the Chilasa subgenus, the black-bodied swallowtails. It serves as an excellent example of a Batesian mimic among the Indian butterflies. The Common Mime is relatively common in Singapore, and can be seen both in the nature reserves and also in urban areas. The butterfly mimics the distasteful Danainae species for protection against predators. Indeed, when it flutters around flowers, feeding, it mimics the slow and graceful flight of the Blue Glassy Tiger and Dark Glassy Tiger to fool predators into thinking that it is one of the distasteful species.
Habitat:
This butterfly is found in India from Kangra to Sikkim, from Assam to Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh, Peninsular India and the Andaman Islands. It is also found in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Southern China (including Hainan), Hong Kong, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, peninsular Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia (Flores, Alor, Timor and Moa). Several regional variants and forms are recognized. This is a butterfly of hilly regions but also found at lower elevations. It is plentiful in the pre-monsoon and monsoon period and becomes scarce later on.
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