Page 285 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Nymphalidae
DISTRIBUTION Eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia,
and the Solomon Islands
HABITAT Lowland rain forests and monsoon forests

HOST PLANTS Passion vine (Adenia heterophylla, Passi ora aurantia,
and Hollrungia spp.)
NOTE Extremely fast-moving and active caterpillar
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated, but not uncommon

ADULT WINGSPAN
3–3¼ in (75–82 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
1 ⁄ in (40 mm)
VINDULA ARSINOE
CRUISER 283

(CRAMER, [1777])

Cruiser caterpillars hatch from eggs laid by the female

butter y on the tendrils of the food plant. In the early instars,
the caterpillar rests on the tendril during the day and feeds
on the nearby leaves during the night. Later instars rest on leaves
during non-feeding periods. The caterpillars are very active and
sensitive to touch, often dropping to the ground if disturbed.

Unlike those of other passion vine-feeding butter ies, in this
species the larvae are usually solitary. The larval stage lasts about
16 days in the wet season and 25 days in the winter dry season.

Pupation takes place with the pupa attached to a silken pad
on the stem of the food plant and suspended head down from
the cremaster. The pupa resembles a dead leaf and twitches if
disturbed, an action that probably provides some protection
from parasitoids and predators. The adults y in patchy sunlight

and shady areas in rain forests and have a gliding ght. Actual size

The Cruiser caterpillar has a greenish or
yellow body with broad, blackish-green,
and yellow-spotted dorsolateral bands.
Each segment has a pair of black, branched
dorsolateral and lateral spines and a pair
of white, branched ventrolateral spines.
The head is black with two curved, long,
thick, black, branched spines.