At the end of August, I received the most beautiful surprise in a wild park. There, on a peaceful green leaf, I saw a couple on vacation. I approached them cautiously, so as not to disturb their vacation, and then left me alone. They looked very calm and cheerful, seemingly truly enjoying their weekend getaway. I was happy to see them happy.
The couple were called Indian Cupid butterfly, or Everes lacturnus in Latin. They are small butterflies from the lycaenid family. They are also very simple in color. Their base wings are gray, adorned with neatly arranged black dots and dark gray spots. On the tips of their hind wings is a unique orange and black pattern that resembles a pair of eyes. Near the pattern is a pair of antennae-like tails, further enhancing their strategy to deceive predators. Unless they are very experienced predators, they are difficult to deceive.
If you'd like to see these tiny butterflies in person, you can visit a wildflower garden. These butterflies spend most of their time in the grass. Getting to the flower garden is a bit tricky, given their small size, which is easily blown away by the wind, and their very short flight range. And one more thing to note, these butterflies never fly high. They only hover as high as the surrounding plants.
Latin name | Everes lacturnus | - | - | Observation date | 31 Agt, 2025 Camera used | realme 7 Pro Photographers | @reachdreams Location | Aceh, Indonesia
| Link to original community | | - | https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/310377873
Latitude | Longitude | Map | - | - | - | 4.695135 | 96.7493993 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=4.695135&mlon=96.7493993