Amathusia phidippus phidippus
Linnaeus 1763, The Palmking
Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan.
The member of this family that you are most likely to see, being very common wherever coconut palm trees occur. It flies at dawn and dusk, and will often fly into people's homes when they put the lights on in the evening. During the day, it hides away from the sun, but is easily disturbed, darting away quickly to find a more undisturbed roost.
There are several very similar species, and the only way to be certain of their true identity is to check secondary sexual characteristics in the male. It does not help that all the species exhibit a high level of variation in the shade and width of the pale bands.
Flight Period
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
Wingspan
100 - 125mm
Early Stages
More detailed life history information is available from the following resources: S. Igarishi - Life Histories of Asian Butterflies, Volume.1 , Page 372.
Larval Foodplant
Cocos nucifera (Coconut Palm), and possibly other palms
Range
Burma and Indo-China, through the Malay Peninsular to the Philippines and Sulawesi