The wingspan of both males and females range from 6.5cm to 8.5cm. The upper and under sides of the females wing are similar to the male but the black edging to the veins and the postdiscal transverse bands on both fore and hind wings are much broader than that of the male.
This butterfly is common through most of its range except for the desert tracts, and up to an altitude of 7000 feet. It can be found wherever there are trees, even in towns and cities. The females can be seen flying amongst the trees in search of its food plants, while the males are more frequently observed visiting flowers for nectar or mud-puddling. It rests with its wings closed exhibiting the brilliantly coloured underside.
It has bright coloration to indicate the fact that it is unpalatable due to toxins accumulated by the larvae from the host-plants. Like other unpalatable butterflies the Common Jezebel is mimicked by Prioneris sita, the Painted Sawtooth. The Common Jezebel can be distinguished by the shape of the orange red spots on the hind wing. In the Painted Sawtooth these spots are very squarish whereas in the Common Jezebel they are more arrow head shaped. The Painted Sawtooth also flies faster and will also mud puddle.
Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delias_eucharis
All the shots on this post have been taken with the Canon 7D and the EF 100-400mm lens. I used an ISO of 400 hoping to utilise a faster shutter speed and minimise the noise. I managed to get within 2 meters of the butterfy tocapture these images. The butterflies were photographed in Anuradhapura, Trincomalee and Colombo. The largest specimens were seen in Trincomalee.
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