PAPILIO DEMODOCUS

PAPILIO DEMODOCUS(Papilio demodocus)

Phylum —arthropoda
Class —insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family —papilionidae

Genus –papilio

Appearance

The younger caterpillars are dark brown with orange and white spots and branched outgrowths. The older caterpillars are smooth, dark green with brown and indistinct white spots.

The wingspan of butterflies is 9-11 cm.Adult butterflies have black and yellow markings with red and blue eyespots. Female butterflies tend to be larger than males.

Habitat

The butterfly lives in Africa, in Madagascar.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Males often settle on damp ground to imbibe mineralized moisture, especially in the dry season, but both sexes are more commonly seen when visiting flowers.

In hilly areas the butterflies migrate to the peaks, where courtship and copulation take place. Males sit and bask on bushes, or among tall grasses, often for half an hour or longer. Periodically they take to the wing and then spend several minutes at a time circling around the hilltops, gliding on thermals, but they usually return to the same perching place afterwards.

This species participates in mixed butterfly migrations in East Africa. In their native country it harms citrus plantations.

Like other caterpillars of this family, the caterpillars of this butterfly have an osmetrium – a gland behind the head that extends in danger and looks like two long orange-red"horns".

Diet

The caterpillars feed on various native plants of especially the family Rutaceae, but have also taken to the leaves of cultivated citrus trees.

Butterflies feed on nectar.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. The eggs are laid singly on the leaves of the foodplants, which include Teclea, Calodendron, Fagara, Clausena, Toddalia and Vepris. The eggs are yellow, spherical, 1.3 mm in diameter.The incubation period is 5 days.It is better to keep the caterpillars in containers with a mesh lid of 6-8 pieces. In the container, you need to place a forage plant.The caterpillar develops for approximately 24 days.The temperature is 23-25 ^oC at the humidity of60-70%. Pupae are green or brown. The pupal stage lasts about 2 weeks.

In captivity

The mesh terrarium with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed the butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10.