Orange Migrant (Catopsilia scylla)

 The Orange Migrant was probably introduced to Sri Lanka accidentally with Senna surattensis plants imported from Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia for roadside planting in the early 1990s. It was first recorded in Sri Lanka in 2008. Since then, it has become widely distributed across both urban and rural areas, and is particularly common in and around Colombo. Its only known larval host plant in Sri Lanka is Senna surattensis.

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

 The Painted Lady is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world. In Sri Lanka, however, it is an uncommon species, occurring mainly in the hill country above 1,500 m above sea level. Nevertheless, there are occasional records from several lowland localities, including Galle, Matara, Kalutara, Colombo, Jaffna, Mannar, Arippu, Digana, Trincomalee, and Bandarakoswatta.

The accompanying photograph was taken on 19 June 2026 at Pitawala Patana in the Matale District, where two individuals were observed basking on a rocky outcrop.

In the hill country, the Painted Lady can be found in sunny open areas along railway tracks, at the edges of tea estates, on steep embankments bordering forest footpaths and roads, and in home gardens. Its larvae feed on the leaves of Artemisia dubia and Anaphalis subdecurrens. 

Eumelea ludovicata

Location - Ukuwela

Reference - https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/199156-Eumelea-ludovicata

මල් කෑර (Ochna obtusata)

 An indigenous shrub or small tree rather rare in deciduous forests, low shrubby vegetations and grasslands in the dry lowlands up to 600 m elevations. Flowering from March to September.