Papilio palinurus

Papilio palinurus (Papilio palinurus)

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

Genus – papilio

Appearance

The caterpillars are green with orange stripes.

Papilio palinurus has a wingspan reaching about 8–10 centimeters (3.1–3.9 in). The dorsal sides of the wings are covered by a powder of green scales and the background vary from dark greenish to black, with broad bright emerald green metallic bands. The undersides are black with orange, white and blue spots along the edges of hindwings, that show extended tails at the end.

Habitat

It is native to Southeast Asia, but is regularly kept in butterfly houses around the world.

Behavior

Papilio palinurus demonstrates daily activity. The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Males are territorial.

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 brightly colored "horns".

Diet

Caterpillars feed on plants of genus Euodia belonging to the Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family.

Butterflies feed on nectar.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. The females lay their eggs on the leaves of the forage plant. 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 of 60-70%. The pupae are green with two small horns on the head. The butterfly lives 5-7 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.