Unlike the Browns, most of the Nymphs are quite colourful.
This is a Gaudy Baron, a very beautiful butterfly, mainly found in South and Southeast Asia.
Gaudy Baron is not commonly seen in Hong Kong. Actually this was the first time I saw a Gaudy Baron. I couldn’t believe it was in my garden! Its wingspan ranges from 6-7cm and displays sexual dimorphisim. This one shown here is a male, while the female has black bordered white bands on the upperside fore wing.
This is a Blue Admiral. Its size is similar to the Gaudy Baron. While the upperside of the wing has an eye-catching wide blue strip, the underside of the wings look like dried leaves helping them to camouflage themselves in the forest.
This is a Yellow Rajah, a relatively big Nymphalid butterfly with a wingspan ranging form 7-9cm. It is mainly found in India and is uncommon in Hong Kong.
The Yellow Rajah seems to be a “bully” as you can see it is trying to use its proboscis to push another butterfly away from the papaya. This is a new observation for me to see a butterfly using its proboscis as a weapon. I wonder if anyone has seen this behaviour before.
The Large Faun is very easy to identify because of the white circular spots on the underside of its wings. It is common in Hong Kong but I was quite surprised to see one in the garden.
