The Blue Mormon on a Jasmine Creeper, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India

Its Monsoon in India and on a sunny morning of 11 June 2020, I spotted this beautiful butterfly in the backyard of my bungalow. I took many pictures and as I could go close I tried to measure its wing span which turned out to be 15.8 cm X 6.7 cm. Surprisingly in spite of my scale being so close to it, it didn't fly till I touched it. The Blue Mormon is the second largest butterfly found in India (the largest being the Southern Birdwing). It is a large swallowtail butterfly found in South India and Sri Lanka. The bright florescent blue colour of wings with contrasting large black spots gives them a stunning look. It is a ‘State butterfly’ of the Indian state of Maharashtra. By declaring it as a state butterfly, Maharashtra became first Indian state to have a state butterfly. Maharashtra state took this decision to make people interested in these lepidopterans and their conservation. The name “Mormon” was given because the male butterflies of this family have been observed to have several female partners (polygamy).