Page 211 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION Northeast India, northern Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and
southern Yunnan (China)
HABITAT Open montane forests, at 3,300–6,600 ft (1,000–2,000 m) elevation
HOST PLANTS Hackberry (Celtis spp.)
NOTE Caterpillar whose head is heavily armored with horns and spines
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but common across its range, occurring in
localized colonies

ADULT WINGSPAN
2 ⁄ –3⅜ in (65–85 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2⅛ in (55 mm)
CHITORIA NAGA
NAGA EMPEROR 209

(TYTLER, 1915)

Naga Emperor caterpillars have a heavily horned head capsule
with a pair of branched antlers and a trio of lengthy spikes either
side of the head. Only when the larvae are mobile and feeding
is the head held upright, otherwise it is pressed ush against the

leaf surface. Early instars are gregarious. The larvae rest on a
silken mat on the underside of host leaves and feed on adjacent
foliage. The chrysalis is also formed on the underside of leaves
attached to the midrib. It is green and streamlined, with a yellow-
edged dorsal crest and wing margins, twin cranial horns, and
blue spiracles.

The Apaturinae subfamily of nymphalid butter ies includes
many species known as “emperors.” The name “naga” refers
to the mountainous Naga Hills district on the Indian–Myanmar
border, where the species was described. Typical of many of the
emperors, the butter y will often be seen feeding from leaking

tree sap or basking high in the canopy.

The Naga Emperor caterpillar is long and slender,
its body base color bright green with multiple paler
spots within broad, longitudinal stripes and with
ne primary setae all over. The anal segment
bears two black-tipped tail spikes. A pair of white
processes project upward mid-abdomen. The head
capsule has lengthy, arched horns with multiple
branches and a halo of prominent spines around Actual size
the margins of the faceplate.