John&Jacq~s Garden

Ypthima huebneri (Common 4-Ring)

Ypthima huebneri (Common 4-ring)

I chanced upon this beautiful butterfly yesterday morning as I walked in our garden admiring the many colorful flowers greeting me.

Could not believe my eyes when I counted the number of eyespots on the underside hindwings of this beautiful butterfly…one, two, three, four! Wow! It is definitely a newcomer to our garden as I remembered vividly photographing one species with 5 eyespots, a Common 5-ring butterfly recently.

So I dashed into our home to get my digital camera, a Canon Powershot A60 and rushed back outside. To my extreme joy, it was still around the Cat’s Whiskers plant where I last saw it as if waiting to pose for me! And I happily went on clicking and succeeded in getting 14 lovely shots altogether. :D

It is greyish brown on the upperside with a large sub-apical ocellus on the forewings and two smaller visible ocelli on the hindwings. On the reverse side of its pale buff brown undersurfaces with fine dark striations, you can spot a large yellow-ringed black ocellus on each of the forewings. And, on the underside of each hindwing will prominently feature four smaller rings (eyespots), that give this butterfly its common name. With a wing span of 3-4cm, it has a feeble flight and usually found close to the ground.

Some may say that it is too dull to be admired! Not me, I think they’re as attractive as any other butterfly. What a joyful fun-filled morning I had, following it as it fluttered around between the Cat’s Whiskers and the mass of lavender-colored False Heather nearby! What a blessed day! :)

Taxonomy:

• Scientific name: Ypthima huebneri
• Common name: Common 4-ring
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Class: Insecta
• Order: Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
• Family: Nymphalidae
• Subfamily: Satyrinae
• Genus: Ypthima
• Species: Y. huebneri

Range: India to Sundaland

Habitat: Grass patches or gardens

Food: Gramineae (grasses)

More information at Wikipedia.

Last edit: May 29, 2016

Tags: butterflies/moths, insects, our garden, wildlife