Butterflies of India - Veined Labyrinth (Neope pulaha)

Veined Labyrinth is a Satyrine butterfly found in Asia. In India, it is recorded from the Himalayas – both from Western Himalayas and Eastern Himalayas.  We have recorded this butterfly from the Western Himalays, from Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. So probably it is the West Himalayan subspecies Neope pulaha pandyia. 


There are two more subspecies of this butterfly recorded from in India - Neope pulaha pulaha known as East Himalayan Veined Labyrinth and Neope pulaha pulahoides which is called Myanmarese Veined Labyrinth.

Outside India certain subspecies of this butterfly are also found in Bhutan, eastern Nepal and southern Tibet and Taiwan.

According to Wynter Blyth, this butterfly is rare in Western Himalayas and found only in the inner ranges. According to him, it is spotted during July – August period at altitudes from 6000 feet onwards.

We have observed it in the month of May licking on the sap oozing from cuts on the branch of a tree in company of flies and Common beaks.  Other observers have recorded that the butterfly has the behavior of sitting on Oak tree barks where its underside will blend perfectly with the bark of the tree.

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