Page 224 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION India, Southeast Asia
HABITAT Wooded areas; also parks, gardens, and plantations
containing palms
HOST PLANTS Palm, including Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera), Oil Palm (Elaeis

guineensis), Yellow Butter y Palm (Dypsis lutescens), Arenga spp.,
Calamus spp., and Phoenix spp.
NOTE Cryptic horned and tailed caterpillar
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but very common, particularly on cultivated land
and around ornamental parks and gardens

ADULT WINGSPAN
2⅛–2¾ in (55–70 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1¾ in (45 mm)
ELYMNIAS HYPERMNESTRA
COMMON PALMFLY
222
(LINNAEUS, 1763)

Common Palmfly caterpillars are crepuscular (feeding at
dawn and dusk). Being long and thin, they blend in well with
the host palm fronds. The round eggs, laid singly, usually
on the underside of leaf blades, hatch in four days and are the

caterpillar’s rst meal. The larvae develop through ve instars
over 19 days. Competitive cannibalism has been observed among
these caterpillars as a natural control against overcrowding.
The mature larvae wander and pupate on the underside of a
frond. The pretty chrysalis, suspended from a silken pad, head
downward, is of the same vibrant green as the larva, with red,
yellow, and white highlights. The pupal period lasts seven days.

The Common Palm y is a shade-loving butter y with striking
color on the topsides of its wings, although usually only the
cryptic brown undersides are visible. The caterpillars of many
species in the genus Elymnias feed on palm fronds and share the
common name of palm y.

Actual size

The Common Palm y caterpillar is bright green
and covered with short, stout bristles. A series of
ne, yellow lines run longitudinally from head to
tail. The wider, dorsolateral lines continue as yellow
markings through to the head capsule and into a
pair of pointed, pink, anal processes. Although
variable, these lines can include orange and blue
spots on some or all of the abdominal segments.
The head capsule has two horns with spiked
branches and a halo of spines around its margins.