CLOSED: PNG butterfly ID please

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tropicbreeze noonamah, Australia May 24, 2009

Found this butterfly around Ua-Ule Creek, about 2 hours southwest of Iorabaiwa in the Owen Stanley Ranges, Central Province, Papua New Guinea. Altitude about 400 metres.

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tropicbreeze noonamah, Australia May 24, 2009

It moved quite rapidly around the open area along the creek and took a fancy to the sweat in my clothes. So much so that it became quite bold and kept returning despite me hovering close by with the camera.

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Post #6588953
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tropicbreeze noonamah, Australia May 24, 2009

The watch and sunglasses give an idea of the size.

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suunto Sinks Grove, WV May 24, 2009

This butterfly is in the family Nymphalidae (brush-footed butterflies); apparently in the genus Cyrestis - see http://tinyurl.com/o8xgz2 for an example.

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tropicbreeze noonamah, Australia May 24, 2009

Thanks for that tip Suunto, it's led me to the right track. I believe it's the same, Cyrestis thyodamas, just another subspecies.

Wikipedia gives the distribution as:
"Continental India generally, from the Himalayas to Travancore, in the hills, avoiding the hot dry plains of Northern and Central India; Assam; Burma; Tenasserim ; extending to China and Japan."

These are sites with images showing differences from various areas in its distribution:
www.pbase.com/pcwing/cyrestis_thyodamas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrestis_thyodamas
www.kidsbutterfly.org/node/244
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/cyr/730050001.html

Common names:
Map Butterfly
Common Mapwing

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