Cirrochroa Thais

Cirrochroa thais, also known as the Tamil yeoman, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical Sri Lanka and India. It is the state insect of Tamil Nadu, an Indian state.

Tamil yeoman
Upperside
Underside
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Cirrochroa
Species:	C. thais
Binomial name
Cirrochroa thais (Fabricius, 1787)

Wet-season form: Male. Upperside rich bright fulvous, somewhat deepest basally. Forewing with a slender dusky-lined discocellular streak, a transverse discal more or less prominent black sinuous interrupted line, its anterior portions from upper median dilated and bent inward; two submarginal sinuous lines, the inner dilating broadly inward to the costa, the outer partly merged into the black of outer border. Hindwing crossed by a more or less prominent black inner-discal slender broken line, anteriorly bordered by an outer costal quadrate white patch, followed by a medialrow of black spots, two submarginal sinuous Hues and a marginal even line. Underside. Ground-colour of various shades of reddish-ochreous washed with pale violaceous-grey ; subbasal line dusky brown; transverse discal band white or violaceous-grey, dilated anteriorly, its inner-edge brown-lined and more or less deeply sinuous or broken up into dentate portions, its outer-edge being straight and unlined; followed by an outer-discal series of very obscure dusky dentate marks on the forewing, and a row of small black spots on hindwing, and submarginal lunular lines of the ground-colour bordered by violaceous-grey.

Female. Forewing more falcate at the apex. Upperside paler than in male, darker basally ; markings similar. Underside olivescent greyish-ochreous or pale brownish-ochreous, washed with violaceous-grey; markings similar to male; the discal baud generally prominently edged on both sides by a dark purple-grey line; the discal row of black spots on hindwing very small.

Dry-season form: Male. Upperside slightly paler than in wet-season form ; all the markings comparatively less prominent. Underside paler and a duller reddish-ochreous, the subbasal and outer markings obscure, the discal band on both wings entire throughout its course, and either of the same shade as the ground-colour or white, its inner edge being very slightly sinuous, and not broken up into dentate portions as in wet-season form.

Female. Upperside also slightly paler than in wet-season form, and the markings less prominent. Underside paler greyish-ochreous than in wet-season form; subbasal and outer markings similar; the discal baud entire, as in male, white.

— Frederic Moore, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. IV

Wingspan 60–75 mm.

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  Eggs
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  Caterpillar
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  Adult
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  Illustration