Lexias pardalis dirteana (Archduke)
The Archduke is a powerful flyer and is difficult to capture
on the wing. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism where the male (shown
here) is black with greenish blue wing margins whilst the female is dark
brown with yellow spots on both wings.
It is essentially a jungle butterfly and is relatively
common in Singapore's lowland forests. It is attracted by rotting fruit
(pineapple and guava are favourites) and can be found feeding greedily
on these fruits on the forest floor. A very similar-looking species, Lexias
dirtea merguia, can be distinguished from Lexias pardalis dirteana,
by its antennal club - the apical portion is orange-brown in L pardalis
but entirely black in L dirtea.
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