Peacock Pansy

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Nymphaliini; Junonia almana almana Linnaeus, 1758. This is a strikingly colourful butterfly and J. a. almana is the ssp. present in the Philippines. The pictures shown here were all taken in the same place and are all of the same ssp., but on different dates. The reason for this is that I want to illustrate the differences between the dry season and wet season forms. The picture of the specimen hanging vertically shows a perfect specimen (newly eclosed from its chrysalis) and in the process of inflating its wings. The dorsal view is how you will recognise this butterfly when you see it for the first time. The dorsal view is always as shown. However, there are two possible ventral views which slightly confused me when I first encountered a Peacock Pansy. The rather pale colouring with small almost imperceptible eyespots is the dry season form and the darker, more clearly defined markings with larger eyespots is the wet season form.