Badamia Exclamationis - Habits

Habits

A forest butterfly, the Brown Awl favours openings and edges of deciduous and evergreen forests while its caterpillars are to be found in moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests. It flies about either late or early in the morning in the shade of the jungles. It can be sometimes seen in bright sunlight visiting flowers, such as Glycosmis Buddleia, Chromolaena and Lantana, but is very wary and energetic at such times, moving jerkily and rapidly between flowers or across infloresences. It can also be seen mud-puddling or at bird-droppings.

During a population explosion, like those of the Common Banded Awl, the caterpillars of the Brown Awl may strip away all their food supply forcing the butterflies to migrate to other places where fresh supply of host-plants are available and even into other habitats such as shrubs, grasslands and gardens.

The Brown Awl flies as low as 6 feet over the bushes or as high as 60 to 75 feet in the canopy. The adults feed at lower levels on flowers of shrubs and small trees, but ascend to higher reaches of the vegetation to lay eggs or to bask, which it does very occasionally, holding its wings flat with the forewings covering the hindwngs thus giving an arrowhead effect. The flight of the butterfly is fast and bounding with an audible wing-beat.

When inactive, it rests on the undersides of leaves in shady forest spots, with the head pointing downwards. If disturbed it will generally buzz around energetically before returning to the same spot to rest.