Rose Imitator - _TNY_0429
This is a female common mormon (Papilio polytes) - but if you compare it to the "regular" version (here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54105675296/), you'll see that it looks quite different. This is because this is the theseus form which mimics the unpalatable species known as the common rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae). Only the females have these mimic forms and all the males look like the one in the link above.
Naturalists who observed the males courting and mating with different-looking females is the origin of the "mormon" name as a reference to polygamy.
Rose Imitator - _TNY_0429
This is a female common mormon (Papilio polytes) - but if you compare it to the "regular" version (here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54105675296/), you'll see that it looks quite different. This is because this is the theseus form which mimics the unpalatable species known as the common rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae). Only the females have these mimic forms and all the males look like the one in the link above.
Naturalists who observed the males courting and mating with different-looking females is the origin of the "mormon" name as a reference to polygamy.