Blue Peacock

I saw several of these Swallowtail butterflies mud-puddling on a small sandy beach alongside a river, deep in the indiginous people's land of Dzongo, North Sikkim, India. With wings stretched open, the upperside was a beautiful green studded with thousands of tiny spots of light, like stars in the milky way, created by the effect of light on the butterflies scales. Unseen under the lower hind wing when resting, were 2 patches of intense blue, visible usually only in flight.