Silky Owl Butterfly
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| Silky Owl Butterfly |
The Silky Owl butterfly in Palawan (Taenaris horsfieldii plateni) is an uncommon forest-dwelling butterfly well known due to the spots on its hind wings similar to a pair of staring eyes. The yellow “eyes” with central black, bluish, and white pupil areas visible when resting are considered part of their defensive colour patterns that are supposed to warn or scare predators. Despite being large (80 mm) compared to most shaded forest-dwelling butterflies in Palawan, this species is surprisingly hard to find. They are secretive and often frequent in the well-shaded understory of the dense forest.
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| Silky Owl Butterfly |
The Silky Owl in the Philippines occurs only in Palawan. It inhabits dense forests at low to medium elevations and seems to be absent in ultramafic forests on mountain ridges and peaks. They are very adept at weaving through the undergrowth when flying in dense vegetation but are mostly reluctant to fly great distances. This butterfly species distribution in the province is wide, but more copious in population in the southern and central parts of Palawan mainland.
