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LIFE CYCLE OF COMMON MORMON BUTTERFLY

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  LIFE CYCLE OFCOMMON MORMON BUTTERFLY Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758 Species: polytes Linnaeus, 1758 Subspecies: romulus Cramer, 1775 Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 70-85mm life cycle consists with egg,larval,pupal and adult stages. EGGS The eggs of the Common Mormon are laid singly on the young stem, the petiole or the underside of leaves of the host plant. The egg is pale creamy yellow with a finely roughened surface. It is nearly spherical with a diameter of about 1.2mm. LARVAL STAGES In the first 4 instars, the Common Mormon caterpillars resemble bird droppings as they rest on the leaves.  After about 3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar. The 2nd instar caterpillar lasts 2-3 days with the body length reaching about 10mm before the next moult.The newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar bears no drastic change in physical appearance except for more dark brown to black patches appearing on the mottled body, and the more prominent white saddle mark. This
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Mud puddling behavior of butterflies

    By sipping moisture from mud puddles, butterflies take in salts and minerals from the soil. This behavior is called puddling, and is mostly seen in male butterflies. That's because males incorporate those extra salts and minerals into their sperm.           After the salts are absorbed into the body, the excess is excreted in droplets through the rectum. These are called butterfly bubbles.  
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SRI LANKAN NARROW MOUTHED FROG

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    SRI LANKAN NARROW MOUTHED FROG Uperodon taprobanicus CLASSIFICATION Kingdom -Animalia Phylum -Chordata Class-Amphibia Order-Anura Family -Microhylidae Genus- Uperodon Species - Uperodon taprobanicus COMMON NAMES Sri lankan painted frog,Common bullfrog,Sri lankan Kalouta ,Sri lankan bullfrog,Indian painted frog,Sri lankan narrow mouthed frog INTRODUCTION This is an anuran Amphibian of the family Microhylidae.The species listed as 'Least concerning IUCN red data list'. DISTRIBUTION This frogs are distributed in South Asia, Penisular,India,Sri Lanka and Bangladesh . HABITAT Pointed frog is a common semi fossorial,semi arboreal ,nocturnal frog that can be found in wide variety of habitats. They are mostly found in forests, plantations, wetlands, grasslands and open areas that close to human. MORPHOLOGY This frog is a medium sized fog with bright red to orange and grey to brown in colour markings on brownish grey black. Its underside is greyish col
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COMMON CERULEAN

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                    COMMON CERULEAN CLASSIFICATION Kingdom - Animalia Phylum -Arthropoda Class-Insecta Order-Lepidoptera Family -Lycaenidae Genus- Jamides Species - Jamides celeno INTRODUCTION   Jamides celeno is a small butterfly that belongs to family Lycaenids .Cerulean is the most widespread member of genus Jamides . Common name- Common Cerulean DISTRIBUTION   Common Cerulean is occuring in Sri Lanka,India,Assam,Burma,Thailand,Malaysia,JavaThaiwan,Philippines,Singapore HABITAT   It can be found in all the habitats. Mostly found at edges of the nature reserves,wastelands,dense forests and also gardens.They can be found in all climatic zones throughout the year. HABIT   It is an active butterfly, but it's flight somewhat weak .They mostly settle on the tip of the leaves. MORPHOLOGY   Normally wingspan of this butterfly is about 30-35mm .Their upper sides of wings are uniform pale and undersides are light brownish grey both in male and female.But
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FLAME LILY

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FLAME LILY ( Gloriosa   Superba ) CLASSIFICATION Kingdom-Plantae Division -Spermatophyta Class-Liliopsida Subclass-Lilidae Order-Liliales Family -Liliaceae Genus- Gloriosa Species - Gloriosa superba COMMON  NAMES Glory lily,creeping lily,flame lily,climbing lily INTRODUCTION    Gloriosa superba is a famous plant because of its flame like flower and its poisonous parts.This plant contains high levels of toxic alkaloid colchicine, specially in tubers.These tubers can be fatal to humans and animals. DISTRIBUTION    This plant is native of tropical Asia &Africa.It mostly found in Tropical India,Madagascar,Sri Lanka ,Indo -China.This plant is mostly suitable for shade or sun.It grows naturally in a wide variety of habitats like forests, grasslands.It grows mostly  sandy loam soil in sunny positions. CHARACTERISTICS    Gloriosa superba is a deciduous ,tuberous plant that climbes up to 1.5m tall.Normally it has 1-4 slendar stems.Stems are produced annua
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DRAGONFLIES & DAMSELFLIES

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DRAGONFLIES & DAMSELFLIES CLASSIFICATION  Kingdom-Animalia  Phylum- Arthropoda  Class-Insecta  Order-Odonata INTRODUCTION Dragonflies(sub order-Anisoptera) and Damselflies(sub order-zygoptera)are often bright coloured flying insects that can be easily identified. MORPHOLOGY They are medium to large in size with 15-120mm body length. Dragonflies and Damselflies are similar in shape but Dragonflies are much heavier bodied and stronger flying insects than Damselflies. Damselflies are slender bodied and flying more weakly.   Both have follwing features.     •Long,slender body     •large compound eyes     •3 oceli     •very small antenna     •mandibulate mouthparts     •2 pairs of membranous wings     •complex wing veniation   Dragonflies and Damselflies are similar in shape. But they can be easily recognized by observing their wings.        In Dragonflies their hind wings and fore wings are different in size ,hind wings are slightly broader than forewi
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ORIENTAL GARDEN LIZARD

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ORIENTAL GARDEN LIZARD Classification  Kingdom - Animalia Phylum - Chordata Sub phylum - vertebrata Class- Reptilia Order - Squamata Family - Agamidae Genus -  Calotes Species -  Calotes versicolor Introduction The Oriental Garden lizard/Changeable lizard ( Calotes versicolor) belongs to family agamidae.It is also known as ගරා කටුස්සා (gara katussa) in sinhala. Distribution  Oriental Garden lizards are widely distributed around the world.The species range from Iran to India,and from Southern China to Thailand.In Sri Lanka they live all environmental regions and  inhabit wide range of habitats.This lizard is active during the day and is arboreal .So it can be found mostly in trees and bushes.And also It can be found among the undergrowth in open habitats and costal vegitations. Morphology Total length of the Oriental garden lizard about 37-40cm including the tail.It's colour ranges from brownish buff to greyish.Generally broad brown bands across the back
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