Great/Common Eggfly Butterfly Hypolimnas bolina

The Great Eggfly Butterfly, also called the Common Eggfly, is native to South and Southeast Asia and part of Australasia.

The white, egg-shaped spots are only on the male, above, and are surrounded by a blue/purple iridescence which isn't seen from all angles (the two pictures at the top are of the same pair).

The female Great Eggfly mimics the Common Indian Crow, a distasteful and inedible Danaid butterfly. She is plain dark brown with white markings around the edges of the wings.

Sometimes the female may have some blue iridescence also and/or white bars, and in some cases she will even mimic the male Great Eggfly.

From the (under)side, the male and female Great Eggflies are more similar, although there is considerable variation in subspecies and races. The first two above are females, the first one being the same individual as the one being courted by a male in the first pictures at the top of the page.

The first photo above left is also a female, since she is laying one of her eggs on the underside of a leaf.