Graphium sarpedon

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Graphium sarpedon
Graphium sarpedon

Graphium sarpedon

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Knight Butterfly (Papilionidae)
Subfamily : Swallowtails (Papilioninae)
Genre : Graphium
Type : Graphium sarpedon
Scientific name
Graphium sarpedon
( Linnaeus , 1758)

Graphium Sarpedon , even hummingbird moth is a butterfly from the family of the swallowtail butterfly (Papilionidae), and the subfamily swallowtails (Papilioninae).

features

butterfly

The moth has long, triangular front wings with a wingspan of 60 to 90 millimeters. The hind wings are toothed on the edges and also quite long and curved and have no tail appendages. The basic color of the body and the wings is black. Blue-green, light green to deep blue translucent bands on the fore and hind wings, which are traversed by delicate black veins, are characteristic of this butterfly. On the outer edge of the hind wings there are blue-green crescent-shaped points that shimmer reddish on the underside. There is also a red spot near the base on the underside of the hind wings. Males can only be distinguished from the females by the scent pouches, which they carry on the inner edge of the hind wings. Otherwise both sexes are colored identically.

Red dots on the bottom

egg

The eggs are creamy white and about 1.2 millimeters in diameter.

Caterpillar

The caterpillars of Graphium sarpedon are pale yellowish-brown in their initial stage shortly after hatching and a few hours later turn a darker green-brown. They have short pairs of lateral spines on the anterior three thoracic segments and a white pair of spines on the anal segment. Her body also has dorsal and lateral tubercles with long hair. After about two days, the caterpillar reaches the peak of its initial stage. Your body then appears to be “pumped up”, is approx. 5 millimeters long and takes on a yellowish-brown color with a green undertone. Then it rests for a while. In the second stage the second and third thoracic segments enlarge while the area of ​​the trunk between the chest and pelvis tapers towards the anal segment. In the area of ​​the head and abdomen, the caterpillar continues to darken, while after another two days it reaches the third caterpillar stage. Their body color is then shaded from a dark yellow-green and they are 6–8 millimeters long. The front spines turn black with bluish dots emanating from the tip. At the end of this stage, the caterpillar is 10-12 millimeters in size and then moves into the fourth stage. The color is then mainly yellowish-green with yellow speckles. On the back, a yellow line connects the spines of the third thoracic segment. There is also a faint, thin yellow line running on each side of the body. the anal segment turns blue-green here. After two days at this stage, the caterpillar is 19-20 millimeters long. In the fifth stage, which lasts about four days, the yellow line between the spines of the third thoracic segment comes out more clearly, and the tips of the spines become whitish from their ends. At the end of this stage, the caterpillar is 40–43 millimeters long and then turns almost entirely green and loses the yellow lines and speckles. Its length also gradually shortens.

Doll

The doll hangs from the surface of the leaf by a thread and is secured to the anal segment with an anchor. It is green in color with a slender, pointed end and a thicker, blunt end. Two yellowish stripes run down the back from the head to the tip of the tail and give the pupa the appearance of a veined leaf. The puppet rest lasts about ten days. One day before the butterfly hatches, its wings shine bluish-green through the cocoon .

Behavior and way of life

When mating

The eggs are laid by the females on plants from five families, including Myrtaceae and Lauracea, at a low height above the ground on fresh leaves or shoot tips. The caterpillars hatch after three days. To pupate, the caterpillars bring themselves into an upright position on a leaf and then pupate one day later.

Newly hatched caterpillars are approx. 3 millimeters long and begin to eat the eggshell immediately after hatching. The caterpillar prefers to feed on cinnamon trees ( Cinnamomum verum ). Since it is not very picky, it also eats the camphor tree ( Cinnamomum camphora ), bay tree ( Laurus nobilis ) and myrtle ( Myrtus communis ). Caterpillars are mostly found low above the ground.

Adult moths prefer to fly at treetop height. You are very quick and agile. Often they can also be found on roadsides where they suck on urine contaminated sand. Here they can occasionally be found in large groups. Except when laying eggs on their forage plants, females are less likely to come together in groups. The moths suck nectar from flowers like lantana ( Lantana camara ). But they also absorb minerals through moisture and manure in waste water.

Group together with other butterflies while ingesting minerals

distribution and habitat

The species is quite common and inhabits open woodlands, river banks, clearings and lowland rainforests from India to Burma , Thailand , China to Japan and Korea as well as Malaysia , Indonesia to Australia .

status

The caterpillar is considered a pest in some areas.

Subspecies

In addition to the nominate form, a distinction is made between the following subspecies:

swell

literature

  • Elizabeth Balmer: Butterflies: Recognizing and Identifying. Parragon Books Ltd., 2007, ISBN 9781407512037 , p. 35

Individual proof

  1. ↑ The Papua Insects Foundation ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 29, 2014  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.papua-insects.nl

Web links

Commons : Graphium sarpedon  - collection of images, videos and audio files