Common imperial
The common imperial is a small butterfly from southern Asia. On top its wings are brown with white bands. Each back wing ends in a thin little tail.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
When it folds its wings, you see the pale side underneath: pale yellow to white, with black edges.
It belongs to the gossamer-winged butterflies, a big family of small butterflies with thin, delicate wings.
The butterflies on different islands look a little different. Scientists count nine different kinds of it, from India all the way to Borneo.
Most asked questions about Common imperial
?Where does the common imperial live?
In India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and on islands like Java, Bali and Borneo.
?Is the common imperial dangerous?
No. It is a small butterfly that cannot bite or sting.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cheritra freja
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Cheritra freja (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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