Common Mormon (Papilio polytes).

"The Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia.

This butterfly is known for the mimicry displayed by the numerous forms of its females which mimic inedible red-bodied swallowtails, such as the common rose and the crimson rose.

The common name is an allusion to the polygamy formerly practiced by members of the Mormon sect according to Harish Gaonkar, of the Natural History Museum in London


The origins of giving common English names to organisms, particularly butterflies for tropical species started in India around the mid 19th century ... The naming of Mormons evolved slowly. I think the first to get such a name was the Common Mormon (Papilio polytes), because it had three different females, a fact that could only have been observed in the field, and this they did in India. The name obviously reflected the ... Mormon sect in America, which as we know, practiced polygamy.

The scientific name is constructed from the Latin word for butterfly, papilio, and the Greek word for many, poly.

The Common Mormon is fond of visiting flowers and its long proboscis permits it to feed from flowers having long corollar tubes.

Only the males take part in mud puddling, usually in cool shaded spots rather than in open areas. They have been known to collect on saline soils to extract minerals.

Both sexes bask in the sun on shrubs close to the ground. They hold their wings flat against the substratum. The forewing is lowered to cover part of the hindwing and is a typical stance of the Common Mormon.

Common Mormons spend the night settled on vegetation with their wings held open, usually quite close to the ground.

Status:
Very common. Not threatened.

Description:
Jet black butterfly with row of white spots along the middle part of hindwing. 90–100 mm.

Male:
The male has one morph only. It is a dark-coloured swallow-tailed butterfly. The upper forewing has a series of white spots decreasing in size towards the apex. The upper hindwing has a complete discal band of elongated white spots. It may or may not have marginal red crescents. The males are generally smaller in size than the females but not always. Both male and all forms of the female of P. polytes can vary considerably in size depending on climatic region.

Female:
The female of the Common Mormon is polymorphic. In South Asia, it has three forms or morphs. These are as follows:

Form cyrus
This form is similar to the male, differing in that it always has strongly marked red crescents. It is the least common of the three forms. It is normally abundant where the common rose or crimson rose do not occur, such as in Himachal Pradesh around Shimla; although a few specimens of form romulus have also been caught alongside.

Form stichius
This female form of the Common Mormon mimics the common rose very closely. This is the commonest form wherever the common rose flies.

Form romulus
This female form mimics the crimson rose and is common over its range. It is not such a close mimic as the previous form being duller than its model. It is easy to differentiate the mimics from models by the colour of their body—the models are red-bodied and the mimics are black-bodied.

This species has considerable genetic variability and is known to produce gynandromorphs, genetic aberrations which are part male and part female." - Wikipedia

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