Troides rhadamantus

Troides rhadamantus(Troides rhadamantus)

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

Genus –troides

Appearance

It is one of the largest diurnal butterflies. The caterpillars are light gray with long, red-tipped, soft outgrowths and a white transverse stripe on the center of the body.

The wingspan of butterflies is up to 16 cm.Troides rhadamantusposses thermoreceptors on veins of their wings and on their antennae. These thermoreceptors are sensitive to sudden increases in temperature and they are thought to help the butterfly to avoid overheating while basking in the sun.

Both sides of the forewings are black streaked with white, while the hindwings are bright yellow edged with black. The underside of the abdomen is bright yellow, but the rest of the body is black.

Habitat

Troides rhadamantusare native to the Philippines, where many subspecies can be found on different islands.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies like to rest in the shade with their wings outstretched. They fly high above the ground. Butterflies and caterpillars are poisonous. The caterpillars accumulate toxins by feeding on poisonous plants.

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 brown-yellow "horns".

Diet

The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Aristolochia from the family Aristolochiaceae.Butterflies feed on nectar.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 90 x 90 x 120 cm. Females lay eggs one at a time on the young leaves of the forage plant. The eggs are spherical. 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 temperature is 23-25 ^oC at the humidity of65-75%. The pupa is green or brown, with small outgrowths. The butterfly lives 10-12 days.

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.If the butterflies do not feed, it is necessary to feed them with syrup twice a day, putting them on a container with syrup and carefully lowering the untwisted proboscis into it.