Angled Castor (Ariadne ariadne)

English : Angled Castor

Binomial Name : Ariadne ariadne

Widely distributed butterfly in Asia including Sri Lanka. More common in dry zone. Plants belongs to Euphorbiaceae family are the major host plants. This butterfly is given the name "Angled Castor" due to the name of its main host plant, Castor (Ricinus communis).

White-browed fantail (Rhipidura aureola)

English : White-browed fantail

Binomial Name : Rhipidura aureola

Sinhala : බැම සුදු පවන්පෙන්දා [Bema sudu pawan penda]

R. aureola is a common breeding resident of Sri lanka. Apart from Sri lanka, They live in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It has been recorded from all environmental regions of Sri lanka and more common in hills of Uva province. Its cup shaped nest is made of plant mater and spider webs. They are insectivorous.

Purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)

English : Purple Swamphen

Binomial Name : Porphyrio porphyrio

Sinhala : දම් කිතලා / පොදු  දම් කිතලා / දම් මැදි කිතලා [Dam kithala / Podu dam kithala / Dan madi kithala]

Purple Swamphen is a very common bird in wed lands. Can be identified easily by its purple-blue color body and red frontal shield. Number of sub species of this bird has been identified and they have been widely distributed around the world in many countries. 

Orange Migrant (Catopsilia scylla)

English : Orange Migrant / Orange Emigrant
Binomial Name : Catopsilia scylla

Orange Migrant is a widely distributed butterfly in South East Asia and Australasia. But it has been identified from Sri Lanka recently. Its upper side of the hind wing is yellow and fore wing is white. Females lay white color eggs on leaves of trees belongs to Fabaceae familiy.

Joker / Spotted Joker (Byblia ilithyia)

English : Joker / Spotted Joker

Binomial Name : Byblia ilithyia

Being restricted to the arid-zone and some parts of very dry areas of dry zone, Byblia ilithyia has become somewhat rare butterfly of Sri Lanka. Apart from Sri Lanka it lives in some parts of Africa and India. It is a non edible butterfly for predators such as birds due to the accumulated poison taken by host plants. Most of their host plants belong to Euphorbiaceae family.

Common Green Forest Lizard (Calotes calotes)

Female

Male

Female

English : Common Green Forest Lizard

Binomial Name : Calotes calotes

Sinhala : පළා කටුස්සා / [Pala katussa]

A common lizard lives in India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, It can be found in places where elevation above the sea level is lesser than 1500 meters. This lizard is arboreal and mostly lives on shrubs and trunks of Trees. Its diet  consists of insects.

Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor)

Male

Female

English : Oriental Garden Lizard / Changeable Lizard

Binomial Name : Calotes versicolor

Sinhala : ගරා කටුස්සා / [Gara katussa]

Widely destributed lizard around the world. In Sri Lanka it lives all environmental regions except central highlands. They come in variable colors and the colors can be changed time to time. Male is bigger in size compared to female. This lizard feeds mainly on insects but sometimes on plant matter. The Sinhala name 'ගරා කටුස්සා - Gara katussa' has the meaning of 'House lizard'.

Zitting cisticola (Cisticola juncidis)

English : Zitting cisticola

Binomial Name : Cisticola juncidis

Sinhala : ඉරි පවන්සැරියා [Iri pawanseriya]

Widely distributed bird across all environmental regions of Sri Lanka and other parts of the world. It is a common bird in grass lands of Horton national park. They feed on insects.