Have a curry leaf tree or a lime bush in your garden? Then you sure would have spotted the Common Mormon. Also known as Papilio polytes, it is a common species of swallowtail butterfly, which is widely distributed across Asia.
According to Wiki the butterfly gets its name from the Mormon sect. Harish Gaonkar from the Natural History Museum, London is quoted as saying,
“The naming of Mormons evolved slowly. I think the first to get such a name was the Common Mormon, because it mated with three different females.”
The scientific name is constructed from the Latin word for butterfly, papilio, and the Greek word for many - poly.
Nitin R. adds, “The common Mormon feeds on the citrus family. They are usually found in urban habitats and are one of the most common butterflies found in Bengaluru. They are fast fliers and one can spot them near citrus plants or sipping nectar on Lantana flowers.”
The female of the species, mimics the inedible red-bodied swallowtail, to avoid being eaten by predators.
Sivakumar Hariharan, a butterfly enthusiast says, “I was in my garden at seven in the morning with my camera, looking for something to capture. Butterflies have an erratic way of flying and so one can’t predict their paths. You need to wait for them to sit in a place to get a good shot. My problem was further aggravated by the low light and a lazy ‘point and shoot’ camera which takes its own sweet time to focus!”
While Vinithashri Gautam a biology student says, “The Common Mormon butterfly is found in our gardens throughout the year. The wing pattern of male and female are different. The female is larger than the male and occur in three different forms -- cyrus, romulus and stichius. They visit nectar-bearing flowers often to feed.” Photographing a butterfly, says Nitin, takes practice and patience.
