various unidentified moth caterpillars

life cycle of the Striped Albatross Appias libythea

male

female

Striped Albatross

female
male

Actually I consider the Striped Albatross to be one of the prettiest pierids in Singapore. It isn't showy, but it possesses a simple, subtle beauty, especially the delicately yellow-dusted female. This is another very common butterfly; white butterflies seen along roadsides and in gardens are almost invariably this species. Coat Buttons are among its preferred flowers.

papilio demoleus-life history

Foodplant: various plants of the citrus family, especially lime

Freshly hatched caterpillars.

Intermediate stages. During this stage, the caterpillars take on the colouring of bird droppings as this is obviously an effective way of keeping most predators away.


Final instar.By now, the caterpillar is too big to pass off convincingly as a piece of bird dropping, so it switches guises, becoming a little snake. Really little, i might add. Still, its pretty cute. When threatened, it emits a orange-red, forked stink gland to repel the predator.

The chrysalis takes the form of a leaf. This stage lasts around 8-10 days.

And finally, the resplendent imago. Lime butterflies are rapid fliers and seldom stop to rest unless nectaring from flowers like ixora and bougainvillea, which are among their favourite flowers. The fresh, luminous pale yellow only newly emerged adults such as the one pictured almost always fades to a duller, orange-yellow shade as the butterfly ages.

I'll upload more photos and update in the near future...

the beginning

What better way to start this blog than to feature the butterfly that catapulted me to to the realm of the lepidoptera? The honour goes to the Lime Butterfly, papilio demoleus. This most ubiquitous of Singapore's butterflies can be found in habitats as diverse as HDB flat corridor gardens and abandoned scrubland. In fact, anywhere where its equally common foodplant, citrus, grows. And common does not equal to drab at all; this butterfly is glorious, living proof of that.