The strange and surprising tongue of the Common Baron Butterfly
Channel: Butterflies of Mulund
Date: 13/12/2022

Watching Common baron butterflies puddling in grass is always fun, especially when it absorbs nutrients from grass patches its long green proboscis. 

Butterflies show affinity towards wet substrates to gather their supply of liquid nutrients and salts in particular – a behavior known as mud puddling. It is usually the males which do the mud-puddling, gather the essential salts, and transfer it to the females through it sperm, while mating as a "Nuptial gift".

Euthalia aconthea, the common baron, is a medium-sized nymphalid butterfly native to Sri Lanka, India and southeast Asia. It flies with stiff wing beats and often glides, with wings positioned almost horizontally.