Tawny coster | |
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Upperside, West Bengal, India | |
Underside, Komodo, Indonesia | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Nymphalidae |
Genus: | Acraea |
Species: | A. terpsicore
|
Binomial name | |
Acraea terpsicore | |
Synonyms | |
Acraea violae (Fabricius, 1775) |
Acraea terpsicore, the tawny coster,[1] is a small, 53–64 millimetres (2.1–2.5 in), leathery-winged butterfly common in grassland and scrub habitats. It belongs to the Nymphalidae or brush-footed butterfly family. It has a weak fluttery flight. It is avoided by most insect predators. This species and the yellow coster (Acraea issoria) are the only two Indian representatives of the predominantly African tribe Acraeini.[2] It is found in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Maldives to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore,[3][4] and recently Australia.[5]