Page 57 - The Book of Caterpillars: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species From Around the World

BUTTERFLY CATERPILLARS

FAMILY Papilionidae
TRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION Borneo, the Philippines
DIS
HABIT
HABITAT T Clearings in tropical rain forests
HABITAT
A
HOS
HOST PLANTS
HOST PLANTS S Citrus spp.
T PLANT
NOTE
NO TE Large caterpillar that in early stages resembles a bird dropping
NOTE
TUS
T
A
TION S
A
CONSERVATION STATUS Not evaluated
CONSERV
CONSERVATION STATUS
ADULT WINGSPAN
4½–4⅞ in (115–125 mm)
CATERPILLAR LENGTH
Up to 2⅜ in (60 mm)
PAPILIO LOWII
GREAT YELLOW MORMON 55
DRUCE, 1873
Great Yellow Mormon caterpillars hatch from creamy, yellow,
round eggs with a roughened surface, which are laid singly by
the female on the underside of host plant leaves. The newly
hatched caterpillars feed first on the eggshell then on the leaves.

When young, the larvae resemble bird droppings, which

provides perfect camouflage. Mature caterpillars, with their two

distinctive eyespots, look very different. When fully developed,
the caterpillar pupates as a green chrysalis suspended from
a stem by a silk girdle. There are several generations annually.

The adults are on the wing in the canopy, only venturing lower
in the forest to feed and to lay eggs. They are variable in
appearance and very similar to the Great Mormon (Papilio
memnon), which also has variable markings; in some
classifi cations, P. lowii is considered a subspecies of P. memnon.
Confusingly, the species is also sometimes known as the Asian
Swallowtail, a name shared with P. xuthus. The Great Yellow Mormon caterpillar is mostly
green with white-edged, brown, oblique bands
on the abdomen and two eyespots on the thorax.
The eyespots are joined by a brown transverse
band. There is a second transverse band on the
rst abdominal segment, which, when viewed
from above, creates the illusion of a shield.
The head and underside are brown.

Actual size