The Common Nawab is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of fast-flying canopy butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 found in tropical Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. It belongs to the Charaxinae

Charaxinae

Charaxinae, the leafwings, is a nymphalid subfamily of butterflies that includes about 400 species, inhabiting mainly the tropics, although some species extend into temperate regions in North America, Europe, China and southern Australia. There are significant variations between the species...

 (Rajahs and Nawabs) in the brush-footed butterfly family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 (Nymphalidae).

It occurs in the Himalayas from Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

 to Sikkim

Sikkim

Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...

, the hills of Central India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and the Eastern Ghats

Eastern Ghats

The Eastern Ghats or Eastern Ghauts are a discontinuous range of mountains along India's eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the...

, the Western Ghats

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

 and Southern India, Ceylon, Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, Cachar, and via Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 and Tenasserim far into Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

Description

Male and female. Upperside black. Fore and hind wings with a discal broad transverse area from below vein 4 in fore wing to vein 2 on hind wing, a moderately large spot in interspace 5, a minute preapical dot beyond in interspace 6 on fore wing, and a subterrninal row of spots with two or three spots beyond them on the tornal angle of the hind wing, pale yellow, sometimes with an ochraceous, sometimes with a greenish tinge. The discal area on the fore wing nearly as broad in interspace 3 as on the dorsum, on the hind wing narrowing to an acute point on vein 2 at two-thirds of its length from base of wing. Tails touched with bluish grey. Underside with the discal transverse area and spot in interspace 5 as on the upperside; base and costal margin of the fore wing to apex, and base and dorsal margin of the hind wing broadly lilacine brown, on fore wing with two small black spots near base. Bordering the transverse discal area on the inner side, where it is margined with black lines, and above, is a broad chocolate carved band, continued more narrowly along the outer side of the discal area; beyond this on the fore wing is a concave series of dusky black lunules, on the hind wing the band itself is traversed by a line of obscure pale lunules ; finally on the hind wing there is a subterminal series of internally white-bordered black spots followed by an obscure ochraceous terminal line, and above the tornal angle a slender transverse black line from vein 1 to dorsal margin.

Wingspan 64–85 mm.

Variation

"The species exhibits considerable seasonal variation, especially in South and North India ; for we find that the specimens obtained in March and April in North and North-west India have the discal band much widened and the underside pale, while the individuals flying in May and June have the band narrower, and those found in Sikkim from August to November have it narrowest. In South India there are two well distinguished forms, the one corresponding to the spring form of North India, but with the band less broad and representing most likely the dry-season brood, respectively a form that inhabits dry districts, and the second having the band narrower and the underside brighter in tint. In Burma broad-banded, pale specimens occur also, besides narrow-banded ones...... The differences exhibited by the pale and the narrow-banded forms have often been treated as being of specific value; for instance, the pale South Indian form has been described as E. agrarius, while the darker form is referred to as E. samatha; the North Indian spring form has been designated as E. hamasta, the form May to June as E. bharata, and the summer form as E. athamas.....As the species is so susceptible to climatical differences, it is self-evident that the individuals caught in the same month at the same locality, but in different years, are not always identical in the width of the band, and that, further, in different localities of the same country one may meet with somewhat different forms of athamas in one year, and identical forms in another year. This one must bear in mind in working with the individuals of athamas from a certain country"

"Messrs. Rothschild and Jordan in their monograph of Charaxes and allied Prionopterous genera divide the forms of athamas occurring within our limits into two subspecies—(1) E. athamas athamas, the Northern and Eastern race, with three seasonal forms; and (2) E. athamas agrarius

Polyura agraria

The Anomalous Common Nawab is a butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the Rajahs and Nawabs group, that is, the Charaxinae group of the Brush-footed butterflies family. The name is based on their resemblance to the Common Nawab Polyura athamas which was described prior to the discovery of the...

, the Southern Indian and Ceylon race, with two seasonal forms. The differences between the subspecies seem to not sufficient to necessitate detailed descriptions in the present work. Following Messrs. Rothschild and Jordan, I keep, with much doubt, however, the next form separate from athamas, of which it is possibly only a dimorph."

Caterpillar

"Elongated, slug-shaped, dark green; head large, wide and surmounted by four divergent curved fleshy spinous processes; anal segment with two short naked terminal points ; the segments with an oblique yellowish-white lateral stripe, most prominent on the 7th, 9th and 11th segments, and beneath these a lower series of small white spots." (Moore.)

Pupa

"Thick, cylindrically oval; green streaked with white; dorsum and thorax convex; head broad, truncated, obtusely pointed in front." (Moore.)

Ecology

Eggs are laid on various species of Fabaceae

Fabaceae

The Fabaceae or Leguminosae, commonly known as the legume, pea, or bean family, is a large and economically important family of flowering plants. The group is the third largest land plant family, behind only the Orchidaceae and Asteraceae, with 730 genera and over 19,400 species...

 plants. These include acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

s such as A. caesia, A. catechu

Acacia catechu

Acacia catechu also commonly called Mimosa catechu, is a deciduous, thorny tree which grows up to in height. The plant is called khair in Hindi, and kachu in Malay, hence the name was Latinized to "catechu" in Linnaean taxonomy, as the type-species from which the extracts cutch and catechu are...

(Black Cutch) and A. farnesiana (Needle Bush), Adenanthera pavonina

Adenanthera pavonina

Adenanthera pavonina is a species of tree, used for its timber, also known as Barbados pride, Coral-wood, Coralwood, Peacock flower fence, Red beadtree, Red sandalwood tree, Red sandalwood, Sandalwood tree, Saga; syn. Adenanthera gersenii Scheff., Adenanthera polita Miq., Corallaria parvifolia Rumph...

, Albizia

Albizia

Albizia is a genus of about 150 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, Central, South, and southern North America and Australia, but mostly...

species such as A. chinensis, A. corniculata, A. julibrissin

Albizia julibrissin

Albizia julibrissin is a species of legume in the genus Albizia, native to southwestern and eastern Asia, from Persia east to China and Korea...

(Nemu Tree) and A. lebbeck

Albizia lebbeck

Albizia lebbeck is a species of Albizia, native to tropical southern Asia, and widely cultivated and naturalised in other tropical and subtropical regions. English names for it include Lebbeck, Lebbek Tree, Flea Tree, Frywood, Koko and Woman's tongues Tree...

(Siris or lebbeck), Caesalpinia

Caesalpinia

Caesalpinia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. Membership within the genus is controversial, with different publications including anywhere from 70 to 165 species, depending largely on the inclusion or exclusion of species alternately listed under genera such as...

species such as C. bonduc

Caesalpinia bonduc

Caesalpinia bonduc, commonly known as Gray Nicker, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is a vine-like shrub that reaches a length of and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines...

, C. major and C. regia, Delonix regia (Gulmohar), Grewia

Grewia

The large flowering plant genus Grewia is today placed by most authors in the mallow family Malvaceae, in the expanded sense as proposed by in the APG. Formerly, it was placed in either the linden family or the Sparrmanniaceae...

spp., Leucaena leucocephala (White Popinac), Peltophorum pterocarpum

Peltophorum pterocarpum

Peltophorum pterocarpum is a species of Peltophorum, native to tropical southeastern Asia and a popularly ornamental tree grown around the world.-Description:It is a deciduous tree...

(Copperpod), Pithecellobium clypearia and Pithecellobium dulce

Pithecellobium dulce

Pithecellobium dulce is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is introduced and extensively naturalised in the Caribbean, Florida, Guam and Southeast Asia. It is considered an invasive species in Hawaii.It...

(Monkeypod).

At least on Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

 but probably elsewhere too, adults do generally not visit carrion

Carrion

Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...

or old fruit to drink liquids.