Indian sunbeam
The Indian sunbeam is a butterfly with two very different sides. On top, the male shines a glossy coppery red like a sunbeam. Underneath, its wings are shining silvery white.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The female looks different from the male. She is dark brown with a big white patch on each front wing.
Its caterpillar is exactly the same green as the leaves it eats, so it is very hard to spot.
When the caterpillar hatches, it eats a hole in the top of its egg, and the empty shell looks like a tiny sea urchin.
Its pupa can make little sounds, and scientists are still not sure why.
The caterpillar has little tentacles like caterpillars that live with ants, but no ants have been seen caring for it.
Most asked questions about Indian sunbeam
?Where does the Indian sunbeam live?
In India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, and on islands like Java and the Philippines.
?Is the Indian sunbeam rare?
No. It is not considered rare, but it avoids deserts and very dry places.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Curetis thetis
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Lycaenidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Lycaenidae
- Lives on
- Asia
Where the facts come from
- Curetis thetis (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 Bias Chakraborty. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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