The Life History of the Great Helen

Life History of the Great Helen (Papilio iswara iswara)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758
Species: iswara White, 1842
Subspecies: iswara White, 1842
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 140mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Maclurodendron porteri (Rutaceae)


A male Great Helen visiting a flower.


A male Great Helen visiting a flower, giving a view of its upperside


Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Great Helen is a large butterfly with a wing span of up to 14cm. The forewing is black above and, on both surfaces, the hindwing has a large white discal patch of four spots in spaces 4 to 7. There is a spatulate tail at each hindwing at vein 4. On the hindwing underside, there are blue post-discal lunules distal to the white spots in 2, 3 and 4. The female has a large black ocellus ringed with red in each of spaces 1a and 2 on the hindwing upperside (see the top picture in this article).

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
Locally the occurrence of this species is restricted to the Central Catchment Nature Reserves where its host plant, Maclurodendron porteri (old name: Acronychia porteri), is rather common, especially along MacRitchie Nature Trail and Nee Soon Pipeline. The adults usually fly rapidly at tree-top height, except when they come down to feed at flowering bushes or to look for oviposition sites. Like many of the Papilio species, when an adult stops to feed at flowers, it flutters its forewings while its hindwings are kept relatively still. When resting at a perch, the forewings droop backwards to almost or completely conceal the white discal patch on the hindwings.

Early Stages:
The host plant, Maclurodendron porteri, is a tree with simple, opposite and ovate leaves which are 10-18cm long. The leaves have a pleasant aromatic smell when crushed or when broken at stalks. Cancer researchers have found this plant to contain various flavonols with cancer-fighting attributes.


Host plant : Maclurodendron porteri


A female Great Helen attempting to oviposit on a leaf of the host plant

The eggs of the Great Helen are laid singly on undersides of young leaves of the host plant. Typically only one egg or one caterpillar is found on a single plant. The egg is pale creamy yellow with a finely roughened surface. It is nearly spherical with a diameter of about 1.8mm.


A fresh egg of Great Helen, diameter: 1.8mm


A mature egg, giving a faint front view of the head of the caterillar.

The egg found in the field took about 4 days to mature. The young caterpillar eats its way out of the mature egg, and then proceeds to finish up the rest of the egg shell. The newly hatched has a rather spiky appearance, and an initial body length of about 4mm. It is greyish white dorsally and dark brown laterally,


Newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 4mm


1st instar caterpillar, length: 6mm

In the first 4 instars, the Great Helen caterpillars look like bird droppings as they rest on the leaves. The resemblance in the 3rd and 4th instars are stronger with the body also assuming a slimy appearance. As in the case of all Swallowtail butterflies, the Great Helen caterpillars in all instars possess a fleshy organ called osmeterium in the prothoracic segment. Usually hidden, the osmeterium can be everted to emit a foul-smelling secretion when the caterpillar is threatened

As the 1st instar caterpillar grows to a maximum length of about 8mm, the dorsal whitish patches changes to orangy brown. There is a faint whitish saddle on the mid-abdominal segments, and white markings on the posterior abdominal segments. After about 3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.


1st instar caterpillar, day 3 in this stage, ready to moult; length: 8mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a similar appearance to the late 1st instar caterpillar except for the more distinctly white saddle mark and posterior abdominal segments. This instar lasts 3 days with the body length reaching about 16mm before the next moult.


2nd instar caterpillar, length: 10.5mm

In the 3rd instar, again there is no drastic change in physical appearance except for more dark brown to black patches appearing on the mottled body, and the more distinct white saddle mark. This instar takes 3 days to complete with body length reaching 25mm.


3rd instar caterpillar, length: 25mm

The 4th instar caterpillar looks almost the same as in the 3rd instar but with a more slimy appearance. This instar lasts 4 days with body length reaching about 38mm.


4th instar caterpillar, length: 36mm

The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar. Now there is a drastic change in appearance. There are two eye spots on the third thoracic segment, a transverse band at abdominal segments 1 and 2 , and oblique bars at mid-abdominal segments. After the moult to 5th instar, the body ground color is initially mottled green, but this changes gradually to the characteristic smooth green color after 1 day.


5th instar caterpillar, first day after the moult, length: 39mm

Now the shield-like thorax is very prominent. The eye spots on the 3rd thoracic segment are connected by a transverse green dorsal band with sinuous markings. A similar band, but in orangy brown, occurs between abdominal segments 1 and 2, and features pale purplish gaps between the sinuous markings. The first oblique bars, one on each side, run from the base of abdominal segment 3 to the top of segment 4. The second oblique bars occur at the two sides of abdominal segment 5, wide at the base and tapering to the dorsum. Both sets of oblique bars are mainly greenish brown dotted with tiny pale purple spots.


5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 65mm

The 5th instar lasts for 8 days, and the body length reaches up to 65mm. Toward the end of this instar, the body gradually shortens in length. Eventually the caterpillar comes to rest on the lower surface of a stem and becomes a pre-pupatory larva.


A pre-pupatory larva of Great Helen

Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa suspends itself with a silk girdle from the stem. It is mottled in shades of brown, green and white. The pupa has cephalic horns and a dorsal thoracic hump, and is angled in side view. Length of pupae: 36-37mm.


Pupa of Great Helen; fresh on left and mature on right

After 13-15 days of development, the pupa turns black as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case. The beautiful undersides of its wings are fully displayed as it dries its wings for the first few hours after eclosion.


A newly eclosed female Great Helen drying its wings near the empty pupal case


A newly eclosed male Great Helen

Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my gratitude to Samsuri Ahmad of NParks for generous assistance in the identification of the host plant.

References:

• The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.
• The Butterflies of Hong Kong, M. Bascombe, G. Johnston, F. Bascombe, Princeton University Press 1999
• Plants that Fight Cancer, S.E. Kintzios, M.G. Barberaki, CRC Press 2004

Text and Photos by Horace Tan

Butterfly of the Month - June 2008

BUTTERFLY OF THE MONTH - JUNE 2008
The Royal Assyrian (Terinos terpander robertsia)

The Royal Assyrian belongs to the butterfly sub-family Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. The genus Terinos features medium sized butterflies with angled wings. Of the three species found in Malaysia and Singapore, only the Royal Assyrian is known to exist in Singapore. All three species are rich purple above with white or pale orange area on the hindwings.

The Royal Assyrian is not uncommon in Singapore, and can be found in the nature reserves where its host plant, Rinorea anguifera (Violaceae) grows. Seasonally, several individuals are encountered together in the vicinity of its host plant. The species is most often seen along MacRitchie Nature Trail and on the fringes of some of the reservoir parks.

Males are sometimes observed puddling along damp paths in the forests. A peculiar behaviour of the species is that some individuals, when disturbed, fly and stop on the undersides of leaves with their wings folded shut. The Royal Assyrian is not a particularly strong flyer, but flits from leaf to leaf in the shaded understorey of the forested areas. When alarmed, however, it takes off quite quickly to the treetops.

In the early morning hours, they can be observed to open their wings flat to sunbathe, displaying the attractive rich purple colours of the uppersides of the wings. The spectacular purple upperside of the wings are a sight to behold and is quite unlike any other butterfly species in Singapore.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Federick Ho, Tan BJ, Horace Tan, Bob Cheong, LC Goh and Khew SK

A Northern Painted Jezebel visits Singapore!

A Northern Painted Jezebel visits Singapore!

Not exactly of the winged variety, but a good friend of ButterflyCircle, Mr Leslie Day, resident of Koh Samui in Thailand. Leslie goes by the nickname of Painted Jezebel on the ButterflyCircle forums.

Les and his latest el-cheapo tree-pod - an effective newly-patented improvisation to replace image stablisation

Leslie Day is a renowned authority on the butterfly Pierine genus Delias and has spent a great part of his life pursuing and documenting the complete list of all the species and subspecies of the genus on his website, Delias of the World.

Les, as most of us call him, is a former banker from England, who is happily spending his well-deserved retirement on the resort island of Koh Samui in Thailand for the past year or so, visited Singapore in late May 08 for a week. His mission : to photograph as many species of Singapore butterflies as possible.

ButterflyCircle member Wong calling a butterfly down for our visitor to shoot


A groupie mugshot of ButterflyCircle members with Les at Pulau Ubin

Not to be dampened by a few days of wet weather and a malfunctioning zoom lens during the time he was here, Les and ButterflyCircle members went out with a vengeance to see how many species Les could shoot in the 6 days he was here. From Ubin to Central Catchment nature reserves and urban parks, the team set out to find Singapore's forest and urban butterflies. (His final photographic tally was +35 species and a further 6 species spotted - all of which were "new" to Les. Of course, many others which also can be found in Koh Samui were not included in this list)

Shoot, shoot & shoot - rain or shine...


Les and ButterflyCircle members hard at work in the field

ButterflyCircle members who joined Les on his quest also enjoyed themselves thoroughly - rain or shine. There was even a dinner organised for Les, where prominent Harvard researcher, Dr David Lohman also joined in the fun discussion. Members who were having trouble with tongue-twisting Latin names of the butterflies were entertained with a session of rather alien language as the experts exchanged notes on their beloved hobby.

Groupie mugshot with Dr Lohman and Les at a scrumptious buffet dinner

Our generous Les even presented a S$100 book voucher to ButterflyCircle's youngest member, Aaron Soh, who made the best guess on the number of species in Les' checklist of Koh Samui as at end 2007.


Les presenting the $100 Book Voucher to ButterflyCircle's youngest member at SBG

I'm sure our visitor from Koh Samui enjoyed himself, being well-entertained by the enthusiastic members of ButterflyCircle, as well as being amazed by Singapore's butterfly fauna and rich biodiversity, despite being a developed modern city in Asia.

Here are some of the photos of the butterflies that Les managed to nail during his visit here.

Report by Khew SK : Photos by Les Day, Bobby Mun, Simon Sng, & Khew SK

Life History of the Malay Lacewing

Life History of the Malay Lacewing (Cethosia hypsea hypsina)
An updated version of the life history of the Malay Lacewing can be viewed by clicking this link.


Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Cethosia Fabricius, 1807
Species: hypsea Doubleday, 1847
Subspecies: hypsina C. & R. Felder, 1867
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 80mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Adenia macrophylla var. singaporeana


A Malay Lacewing resting on a perch in the wild.


A male Malay Lacewing visiting flowers of Leea indica.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the forewings are black with a white subapical band beyond the cell; the basal area is orange-red for the male (with the red confined to the base of the wings) and black for the female (with a yellowish-white patch in mid space 1b). The hindwing upperside is entirely orange-red except for the scalloped black distal border. Underneath, the wings are orange-red with white fasciae and are spotted with black, and the forewing cell has several black-edged, pale blue transverse stripes. The wing borders are dark coloured and deeply indented with lace-like pattern of white markings. One distinguishing feature to separate Malay Lacewing from other Cethosia species is the absence of a white submarginal band on the hindwing underside.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
Locally the occurrence of this species is restricted to the forested nature reserves, possibly due to its preferred host plant being found only in such areas. It is not uncommon in the reserves, and adults can be spotted visiting flowers of flowering plants such as Leea indica in forest clearings or alongside trekking trails. At appropriate times, females can also be seen checking out leaves in search of an ovipositing site. More about the adult behaviour can be found in an earlier blog article in the Butterfly of the Month series.


Early Stages:
The local host plant is a member of the Passifloraceae family. Also known as Singapore Adenia, it is a botanical variety of Adenia macrophylla which occurs only in Johor and Singapore. One prominent feature of this tendrillate climber is the pair of spatulate glands at the leaf blade base. This plant is a forest dweller and can be found in the Central Catchment Nature Reserves and Pulau Ubin.


Host plant : Adenia macrophylla var. singaporeana

The eggs of the Malay Lacewing are laid in large clusters on the underside of a youngish or middle-aged leaf, around a stem or a tendril. Each egg is pale yellow, cylindrical and ribbed, taller than broad (1.5mm versus 1mm).


A female Malay Lacewing flying near an ovipositing site.


A cluster of fresh eggs of Malay Lacewing laid on a stem

Each egg takes about 6 days to mature. The young caterpillar pushes its way through the cracked egg shell, and does not bother to eat the empty egg shell. The newly hatched has a cylindrical body in yellowish brown, and an initial body length of about 3mm. The body is covered in a grid of dark tubercles, each with a single long seta. The head is black and there is a pair of short black spines on the first thoracic segment. The young caterpillar either skims the lamina on a young leaf or nibbles away at the tip of a young stem. The Malay Lacewing caterpillars are gregarious throughout all five instars, often eating (leaves and stems) and moulting together in groups.


Eggs in various stages of development, including mature eggs and empty egg shells.


Newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3mm


1st instar caterpillar, day 2 in this stage, checking out the spatulate
glands of the Adenia leaf; length: 4mm

As the 1st instar caterpillar grows to a length of 5mm, the body color changes gradually to pinky red, and a faint white saddle mark appears on the 4th abdominal segment. After about 2.5 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.


1st instar caterpillar, day 3 in this stage, ready to moult; length: 5mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a wine-red body colour, and the rows of tubercles in the 1st instar are replaced by 6 longitudinal rows of dark fine-pointed spines, 3 to each side of the body. The spines in uppermost two rows are the longest. A pair of short and black coronal spine appears on the head. The white saddle is now more prominently marked, and carries black-tipped white spines. This instar lasts 2.5 days with the body length reaching about 9mm before the next moult.


2nd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, 5.5mm

In the 3rd instar, there is no drastic change in physical appearance except for proportionately longer coronal spines (now about the same length as the height of the head capsule), and the larger and more distinct white saddle mark. This instar takes 3 days to complete with body length reaching about 16mm.


3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 9.5mm


3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 16mm

The coronal spines in the 4th instar caterpillar are again longer proportionately with the length of each spine about equal to the 1.5x height of the head capsule. The 4th instar lasts about 2-3 days with body length reaching about 24mm.


4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 16mm


A group of 4th instar caterpillars, with one subgroup ringbarking a young stem.



A group of caterpillars just moulted to 5th instar on the underside of a leaf

The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar. Now the coronal spines are about 2x the height of the head capsule. The upper half of the body is bright wine red, while the lower half is dark red. This phase lasts for 4 days before the caterpillar stops eating, and at this time the body length is 38-40mm.


5th instar caterpillar, early in the stage, 30mm


A group of 5th instar caterpillars sharing an Adenia leaf

Toward the end of 5th instar, the caterpillar moves about restlessly between feeds. Finally the caterpillar finds a spot on the underside of a leaf, stalk or stem to secure itself at the anal end, from which it hangs vertically as a pre-pupa. The pupation site needs not be on the host plant itself. In the wild, Malay Lacewing pupae have been found on other plants several metres from the Adenia host plant.


Left: A pre-pupatory larva of Malay Lacewing
Right: Pupa, newly pupated, still reddish to reddish brown on most parts.

Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa hangs vertically. It has two pairs of pointed white processes at the middle of its body and a number of less prominent dorsolateral processes. A pair of black foliaceous processes adorn the head. Body color is pale brown mottled with white and black patches, and several dorsal spots of bright gold. When disturbed, the body could jerk sideways through the movement of the posterior abdominal segments. Length of pupae: 28-29mm.


Pupa of Malay Lacewing; fresh on left and mature on right

After 7 days of development, the pupa becomes darkened. The next day the adult butterfly emerges to kick-start the next cycle in its lineage.


A newly eclosed Malay Lacewing dryig its wings on the pupal case

In one particular field visit, a newly eclosed adult was observed to mate right next to its empty pupal case. It was apparently the target of the older mate who had been seen flying in and out of the bush earlier.



A newly eclosed Malay Lacewing becomes part of a mating pair

Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my gratitude to Samsuri Ahmad and Ali Ibrahim of NParks, and botanist Joseph Lai for generous assistance in the identification of the host plant (Adenia macrophylla var. singaporeana).

References:

• The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.
• The Butterflies of Hong Kong, M. Bascombe, G. Johnston, F. Bascombe, Princeton University Pres 1999

Text and Photos by Horace Tan