Page 247 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Northeast India, southern China, and Southeast Asia
DIS
HABIT A T Clearings and tracks in tropical forests
HABITAT
HABITAT
HOST PLANTS S Cratoxylum formosum and Cratoxylum cochinchinense
T PLANT
HOS
HOST PLANTS
NO TE Striking caterpillar that has lengthy protuberances bearing spines
NOTE
NOTE
CONSERVATION STATUS
CONSERV
TION S
T
A
TUS
A
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated
ADULT WINGSPAN
3½–6 in (90–150 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
2 in (50 mm)
LEXIAS PARDALIS
COMMON ARCHDUKE 245
(MOORE, 1878)
On the underside of host plant leaves, the female Common
Archduke lays green, dome-shaped eggs that are unusually
pitted with honeycomb-shaped depressions and covered in tiny,

hairlike spines. The caterpillars hatch and rst consume their
egghell before feeding on older and more mature leaves. Their
unique appearance, with long protuberances bearing feather-

like spines, provides excellent camou age against the foliage of
its tropical forest habitat. As a defense, the larva also curls up,
tucking its head under its spines. The mature caterpillar spins
a silk mound on the underside of a leaf to which it attaches and
then pupates. The pupa is smooth and green, with tapering ends,

and is also well camou aged.
The Common Archduke caterpillar has a green
body arrayed with a series of long, spectacular,
After about ten days, the pupa darkens, and a day later the protuberances along both sides, each ending

butter y ecloses. The large and fast- ying adults feed on rotting in a blue and orange tip. Each protuberance

bears two rows of spines, which give it the
fruits on the oor of tropical forests and are present year-round. appearance of a feather.

The Lexias genus has 17 species, including several that are
farmed for butter y houses, all commonly known as Archdukes.

Actual size