India’s Maharashtra has named `Blue Mormon’ as the state butterfly, becoming the first province to name a butterfly after choosing a state animal (Indian Giant Squirrel) and state bird (Yellow Footed Green Pigeon).
Maharashtra has already named `Mango tree’ as the state tree and `Lagerststroemia’ as the state flower.
As reported by PTI and published in Mid-Day:
“’Blue Mormon’ (Papilio polymnestor) is the second largest by size, only behind the southern birdwing.
“It has velvet, black wings with bright blue spots. The lower end of the wings are black while the body has some red spots on one side. Interestingly, it is only found in Sri Lanka, western ghats of Maharashtra, South India and coastal belts of the country.
“Occasionally, this butterfly is also spotted from Vidharbha to Western Maharashtra.”
India Wildlife News 