The Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina ) is a common Indian butterfly which loves living in forests, but does not mind visiting that occasional garden.
Males of the Great eggfly are supposedly territorial and pugnacious. The above photograph is of the upperside of a male while the lower one is of the underside. Like many other butterflies this one too has subdued underside and brighter upper sides (the ovals are iridescent blue); butterflies have this for a reason.
When the wings are folded together at rest, the subdued colours provide a camouflage. When disturbed, they open their wings and fly off, flashing their brilliant upperwing colour that momentarily startles the predator. This also gives the butterfly an opportunity to fly away and disappear among dried foliage, leaving the predator to search for a colourful butterfly.
The below are the photographs of the Female, which is a excellent mimic of the Crow butterflies ( see my previous post, to know all about mimicry)
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