Butterflies of Sri Lanka - #09 Common Pierrot

I found this Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon) butterfly on a small leaf of Napiriththa, Wild Bush Sorrel plant (Hibiscus surattensis). I was carrying my Nikon D3200 fitted with Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Lens. This rig was one of my favorite rigs for having a versatility of a tele and a reach of a extremely closeup lens. It is an ideal lightweight solution as compared to other macro systems. The Mimosa plant on which the butterfly was resting, hardly grows over a feet in height. So the butterfly was close to the ground. I laid myself on my knees to get to the eye level of this beauty. At the same time there were several butterfly species such as Tiny Grass & Common Mormons feeding on the nearby flowers.

The Common Pierrot is indeed common, especially in open deciduous forests, scrub, grasslands interspersed with trees and near human habitations. And also a weak flier and it is puzzling how it evades predation by birds. A few other species of Pierrots cannot be mistaken for this species although they are white marked with black. These butterfly species can be seen mostly during the monsoon but is active in all seasons. Its distributional range extends over the Indian subcontinent and to southeast Asia.

ISO -360  f/8 1/125sec