Dark Blue Pansy
Junonia oenone
Open secondary woods. Nairobi, Kenya, July 2014.
This is a familiar, yet strikingly patterned butterfly. It frequents sunny patches in woodland and scrub where it avidly visits flowers with nectar sources. (Not all flowers offer nectar; some just smell and look nice, but offer nothing in return for pollination services.) The size of the blue patches in the hindwings varies considerably. If threatened it is capable of rapid escape flight. It can alight with the wings folded above its back showing only the well-camouflaged, dead-leaf appearance of the undersides.
