Larval Host Plant for Butterflies: Crown Flower

Butterflies' Larval Host Plants #6
Crown Flower (Calotropis gigantea)

This 6th instalment of our Butterflies' Larval Host Plants series features the Crown Flower (Calotropis gigantea), a species from the Apocynaceae family (commonly known as the dogbane family) which has many members possessing the ability to exude milky latex/sap. Many of these plants are known to be poisonous.

Leaves of the Crown Flower.

The Crown Flower is native to South Asia, Southeast Asia, China and tropical Asia. In Singapore, it is typically cultivated in gardens to attract a variety of insects. Wild specimens of the Crown flower are rarely seen. All plant parts of the Crown Flower have an abundance of milky latex, and will "bleed" easily when the plant part is cut or scratched. It is considered a poisonous plant as its milky sap has been found to cause a reversible vision loss and skin irritation, and even death when ingested. Even so, the Crown Flower is also a traditional medicinal plant and extracts from various plant parts have been used in treatment of many conditions such as syphilis, sores, ulcers and boils etc.

Plant Biodata :
Family : Apocynaceae
Genus : Calotropis
Species : gigantea
Synonyms : Asclepias gigantea
Country/Region of Origin : Southeast/South Asia, China and tropical Afica
English Common Names : Giant Milkweed
Other Local Names :  Remiga, Madar, Kapal-kapal, 牛角瓜
Larval Host for Butterfly Species: Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Plain Tiger).

Crown Flower plants found in parks in Singapore, showing the upright stem and the large, oval-shaped leaves.

The Crown Flower is a medium to large evergreen shrub, growing up to a height of 3-4m. The leaves are simple, opposite, fleshy, obovate in shape. Young leaves are densely woolly, giving a whitish appearance.

A view showing the simple and opposite arrangement of leaves of the Crown Flower.

A pair of very young leaves showing the woolly appearance.

The top view of another pair of more mature leaves which still have the woolly appearance on the upperside.

Fully grown leaves are large and can be 10-20cm in length, 6-12cm in width. The upperside is light green and the underside whitish green. The leaf base is deeply heart-shaped, and the petiole is relatively short.

The underside of a mature leaf.

The upperside of a mature leaf.

Flowers of the Crown Flower occur in axiliary clusters. Each flower is about 3-4cm wide, white or pale lilac-blue. Each has five pointed petals and a small "crown" rising from the center. These flowers attract a variety of insects such as bees and butterflies which act as pollinators in the reproduction process. In some countries, the flowers are used in floral arrangements due to their long-lasting property.

A cluster of white flower buds.

A cluster of the lilac flower buds.

A cluster of flowers, white variety.

A cluster of flowers, lilac variety.

Each fruit of the Crown Flower is a large, green inflated pod, curved on one side and 6 to 10cm in length. When mature, it splits open to expose the many seeds packed within. Each brown seed is flattened and broad, with a tuft of whitish hair 2 to 3cm long.

A fruit of the Crown Flower.

A fruit of the Crown Flower, split to reveal the brown seeds.

Seeds of the Crown Flower next to the mature fruit, waiting for the next breeze to take them along.

Another view of the same group of exposed seeds.

In Singapore, the Crown Flower also serves as the larval host plant for one butterfly species: Danaus chrysippus chrysippus (Plain Tiger), a species in the Danainae subfamily of Nymphalidae.

A Plain Tiger taking nectar from the flowers of the Snakeweed.

An egg of the Plain Tiger laid on the underside of a leaf of the Crown Flower.

Eggs of the Plan Tiger is laid singly on the underside of a leaf of the Crown Flower. Due to the large size of the leaf, at times more than one egg can be found laid on the same leaf. The life cycle of the Plain Tiger is fast paced throughout. The Plain Tiger caterpillars feed on the lamina of the leaf of the Crown Flower. They stay on the underside of the leaf when eating and resting between feeds. In the earlier instars, the caterpillar has the habit of marking out a circular patch on the leaf, before devouring the patch. The milky sap excreted in the process appears to have no effect on the caterpillar.

A early instar caterpillar of the Plain Tiger resting within its circular patch of territory.

Another early instar caterpillar part way through devouring the circular patch of lamina.

In later instars, the caterpillar will simply eat through the lamina away from the leaf margin or eat along it.

A pair of late instar caterpillars of the Plain Tiger feeding on the underside of the same leaf.

A final instar found resting on the underside of a leaf in an Eco garden.

Close-up view of the same caterpillar.

Typically, the Plain Tiger caterpillar will pupate on the underside of a leaf of the Crown Flower. The pupation site is usually on the raised mid-rib of the leaf.

A pupa of the Plain Tiger found in an Eco garden, possibly parasited.

An empty pupal case of the Plain Tiger on the underside of a leaf of the Crown Flower, indicating that another adult has made it.

A walk in a garden where the Crown Flower is planted will usually come with a sight of the Plain Tiger butterflies fluttering around in the vicinity. If this is the case, it will be rewarding to examine the leaves for any foliage damage and the presence of the beautifully coloured caterpillars of the Plain Tiger.

References:

• The Concise Flora of Singapore : Hsuan Keng Singapore University Press, 1990.
• 1001 Garden Plants in Singapore : Boo Chih Min, Kartini Omar-Hor and Ou-Yang Chow Lin, National Parks Board, 2nd Edition 2007.
• Calotropis gigantea - Wikipedia.
• Calotropis gigantea -DNA, Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum - .
• Kapal-kapal, Philippine Medicinal Plants.

Text and Photos by Horace Tan.

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks - Seletar Country Club

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks
Featuring : Seletar Country Club Butterfly Garden


Welcome to the Seletar Country Club Butterfly Garden

Golf courses are large tracts of greenery that are, ironically, not very "green". A typical golf course occupies tens of hectares of land that is usually cleared of vegetation for the course to serve its purpose. Referred to as "green deserts" by Dr Richard Corlett (formerly from the NUS), the greenery on golf courses may mislead one to think that the greens are rich with biodiversity. This is usually furthest from the truth, as the amount of environmentally-unfriendly fertilisers and pesticides used to keep golf greens pristine and manicured can adversely affect biodiversity.

However, one man set out to at least make an effort to mitigate the "golf course effect" at his club. Mr Foo Jit Leang, owner of a private software company, wanted to show that golf courses need not necessarily be devoid of wildlife. During a visit by Prof Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, and the Seletar Country Club Chairman, Mr Khoo Teng Chye, they challenged Mr Foo to try to create pockets of planted areas that can attract biodiversity to the club premises.

Armed with only his love for nature, and the information that he could get from available books and the internet, and amongst the nature community in Singapore, Mr Foo set out to plant butterfly-attracting host and nectaring plants at a small patch of land next to the clubhouse in 2012. Today, the Seletar Country Club Butterfly Garden, as it is known, occupies an area of about 500-600 sqm and is usually teeming with butterflies on a good sunny day.

Mr Foo and the visitors who spent time at the Butterfly Garden have, to date, spotted a total of 102 butterfly species at the three-year old project. On a good day, an observer can usually expect to see about 20-25 different species of butterflies, from the large Papilionidaes to the small and skittish Hesperiidaes. Combining host plants with nectaring plants around the garden, the SCC Butterfly Garden is now a magnet for butterflies, as well as other insects, birds and even small reptiles.

Different views of the SCC Butterfly Garden - from open areas to intimate corners for butterflies

This morning, I visited Mr Foo and the SCC Butterfly Garden. It was a bright sunny day when I arrived and the butterflies were already up and about, and feeding on the flowers of the String Bush and Shepherd's Needles bushes. A few Plain Tigers and Dark Glassy Tigers were chasing each other amongst the shrubbery.



I spotted a Leopard (Phalanta phalantha phalantha) ovipositing on its caterpillar host plant, the Batoko Plum. A Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus) zipped past me, stopping for a fleeting moment to feed on the flower of the Pink Snakeweed.

Mr Foo and our young ButterflyCircle member Jonathan Soong joined me, and we walked around the garden as Mr Foo shared his stories of the challenges of setting up the butterfly garden, and maintaining the momentum of his initiative. He had to "educate" the club's gardeners not to spray pesticides and not to pull out plants that they considered "weeds". Many butterfly host plants are what landscape designers see as invasive and ugly weeds. However, without these host plants, one cannot expect to see a wider variety of butterfly species. Mr Foo proudly shared that he has bred a total of 42 different species of butterflies found at the garden.

The "closed-loop" water-based habitat for butterflies, dragonflies and other critters

Besides the lush greenery that the Butterfly Garden showcases today, Mr Foo also brought us to the "closed-loop" stream nearby. This stream creates a water-based habitat with appropriate plants to attract dragonflies and butterflies. The body of water is constantly moving, using the topography of the land and a simple pump to move the water around. We noticed a number of the diminutive Pygmy Grass Blues fluttering happily around the bushes near the stream.

Walking back to the main Butterfly Garden, I spotted a hungry Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metarete) feeding on the flowers of the String Bush. It kept me busy chasing it for about half an hour, teasing me as it came close, and then quickly flitted away as I approached it. After a tiring game of cat-and-mouse with it, I finally managed to take a decent shot of it on the String Bush flowers.

The scorching overhead noon sun was taking a toll on us, and we quickly retreated to the clubhouse for a yummy lunch, courtesy of Mr Foo. Looking back at the Butterfly Garden, I would consider it a successful rehabilitation of a piece of land adjacent to a somewhat sterile golf course. The butterfly diversity is considered very good, and it took a simple initiative to populate an otherwise featureless piece of land with butterfly-attracting plants to rejuvenate the biodiversity.

Mr Foo sharing his stories about the Butterfly Garden

Mr Foo has gone on to spread his enthusiasm to schools, childcare centres, community gardens, and to anyone who is interested to set up a butterfly garden. He has unselfishly shared plant cuttings, seeds and always willing to impart his experience and knowledge to give a helping hand to our butterflies to survive and thrive in urban areas in Singapore.

"Green Desert" alert!! - a view across the Butterfly Garden to the golf course beyond

Mr Foo has also shown golf course owners that they can do something for nature, and to use part of the large tracts of land that these golf courses sit on, to support our local biodiversity, instead of maintaining their unsavoury reputation for being "green deserts" in Singapore. Interestingly, for a small island of only about 714 sqkm, Singapore has 21 golf courses! Imagine if small Butterfly Gardens sprout up in all these golf courses. We will need more people like Mr Foo to achieve this dream!

And so we have another local "garden" at the Seletar Country Club that is a haven for butterflies. Photographers and nature lovers can visit this SCC Butterfly Garden to have their fill of nature's flying jewels, and you might meet Mr Foo walking around and infect you with his passion for nature and butterflies!

How to get to Seletar Country Club Butterfly Garden

Driving/Taxi : From the Central Expressway heading north, use the exit 16 to Seletar West Link and turn into Seletar Club Road.  There is ample free parking at the premises.

By MRT/Bus : Drop at Khatib MRT, and cross the road.  Take Bus 85 to just before the TPE, alight and switch to Bus 103 and alight just before West Camp Road and walk to Seletar CC. Alternatively, take Bus 39 and alight at the stop before Seletar Camp G and switch to Bus 103 and alight just before West Camp Road and walk to Seletar CC.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Janice Ang, Bob Cheong, Foo JL, Khew SK, Koh CH and Jonathan Soong

Checklist of Butterflies Spotted at Seletar CC Butterfly Garden as at Jan 2016 (by Mr Foo JL)

1. Common Birdwing - Troides helena cerberus  
2. Common Rose - Pachliopta aristolochiae asteris 
3. Common Mime - Papilio clytia clytia
4. Lime Butterfly - Papilio demoleus malayanus
5. Common Mormon - Papilio polytes romulus
6. Common Bluebottle - Graphium sarpedon luctatius
7. Tailed Jay - Graphium agamemnon agamemnon
8. Painted Jezebel - Delias hyparete metarete
9. Striped Albatross - Appias libythea olferna
10. Mottled Emigrant - Catopsilia pyranthe pyranthe
11. Lemon Emigrant - Catopsilia pomona pomona
12. Orange Emigrant - Catopsilia scylla cornelia
13. Common Grass Yellow - Eurema hecabe contubernalis
14. Three Spot Grass Yellow - Eurema blanda snelleni
15. Plain Tiger - Danaus chrysippus chrysippus
16. Common Tiger - Danaus genutia genutia
17. Blue Glassy Tiger - Ideopsis vulgaris macrina
18. Common Evening Brown - Melanitis leda leda
19. Common Palmfly - Elymnias hypermnestra agina
20. Malayan Eggfly - Hypolimnas anomala anomala
21. Great Eggfly - Hypolimnas bolina bolina
22. Jacintha Eggfly - Hypolimnas bolina jacintha
23. Autumn Leaf - Doleschallia bisaltide bisaltide
24. Chocolate Pansy - Junonia hedonia ida
25. Grey Pansy - Junonia atlites atlites
26. Peacock Pansy - Junonia almana javana
27. Blue Pansy - Junonia orithya wallacei
28. Tawny Coster - Acraea terpsicore
29. Leopard Lacewing - Cethosia cyane
30. Green Baron - Euthalia adonia pinwilli
31. Plain Nawab - Polyura hebe plautus
32. The Apefly - Spalgis epius epius
33. Lesser Grass Blue - Zizina otis lampa
34. Pygmy Grass Blue - Zizula hylax pygmaea
35. Cycad Blue - Chilades pandava pandava
36. Gram Blue - Euchrysops cnejus cnejus
37. Ciliate Blue - Anthene emolus goberus
38. Pointed Ciliate Blue - Anthene lycaenina miya
39. Centaur Oak Blue - Arhopala centaurus nakula
40. Peacock Royal - Tajuria cippus maxentius
41. Common Tit - Hypolycaena erylus teatus
42. Chestnut Bob - Iambrix salsala salsala
43. Palm Bob - Suastus gremius gremius
44. Yellow Palm Dart - Cephrenes trichopepla
45. Common Palm Dart - Telicota colon stinga
46. Small Branded Swift - Pelopidas mathias mathias
47. Lesser Dart - Potanthus omaha omaha
48. Large Dart - Potanthus serina
49. Plain Palm Dart - Cephrenes acalle niasicus
50. Conjoined Swift - Pelopidas conjunctus conjunctus
51. Dingy Bush Brown - Mycalesis perseus cepheus
52. Dark Brand Bush Brown - Mycalesis mineus macromalayana
53. Common Four Ring - Ypthima huebneri
54. Palm King - Amathusia phidippus phidippus
55. Short Banded Sailor - Phaedyma columella singa
56. Malayan Lascar - Lasippa tiga siaka
57. Dark Glassy Tiger - Parantica agleoides agleoides
58. Pea Blue - Lampides boeticus
59. Copper Flash - Rapala pheretima sequeira
60. Black Veined Tiger - Danaus melanippus hegesippus
61. Chocolate Albatross - Appias lyncida vasava
62. Detached Dart - Potanthus trachala tytleri
63. Cornelian - Deudorix epijarbas cinnabarus
64. Slate Flash - Rapala manea chozeba
65. Transparent Sixline Blue - Nacaduba kurava nemana
66. Dark Malayan Sixline Blue - Nacaduba calauria malayica
67. Blue Nawab - Polyura schreiber tisamenus
68. Dark Caerulean - Jamides bochus nabonassar
69. Common Line Blue - Prosotas nora superdates
70. Formosan Swift - Borbo cinnara
71. Colonel - Pandita sinope sinope
72. Common Sailor - Neptis hylas papaja
73. Leopard - Phalanta phalantha phalantha
74. Common Banded Awl - Hasora chromus chromus
75. Striped Blue Crow - Euploea mulciber mulciber
76. Common Dartlet - Oriens gola pseudolus
77. Chocolate Demon - Ancistroides nigrita maura
78. Tailless Line Blue - Prosotas dubiosa lumpura
79. Contiguous Swift - Polytremis lubricans lubricans
80. Vagrant - Vagrans sinha sinha
81. Bush Hopper - Ampittia dioscorides camertes
82. Striped Black Crow - Euploea eyndhovii gardineri
83. Plain PlushBlue - Flos apidanus saturatus
84. Brown Awl - Badamia exclamationis
85. Great Swift - Pelopidas assamensis
86. Cabbage White - Pieris canidia canidia
87. Besta Palm Dart - Telicota besta bina
88. Grass Demon - Udaspes folus
89. Common Red Flash - Rapala iarbus iarbus
90. King Crow - Euploea phaenareta castelnaui
91. Banana Skipper - Erionota thrax thrax
92. Common Awl - Hasora badra badra
93. Baron - Euthalia aconthea gurda
94. White Tipped Skipper - Erionota hiraca apicalis
95. Pale Grass Blue - Zizeeria maha serica
96. Pale Palm Dart - Telicota augias augias
97. Bamboo Paintbrush Swift - Baoris farri farri
98. Vinous Oakblue - Arhopala athada athada
99. Full Stop Swift - Caltoris cormasa
100. Linna Palm Dart - Telicota linna
101. Silver Forget-Me-Not - Catochrysops panormus exiguus
102. Rustic - Cupha erymanthis lotis

Paedophilic behaviour in Butterflies?

Butterfly Ecology Observations
Paedophilic behaviour in Butterflies? 

I witnessed a strange butterfly behaviour on Pulau Ubin recently. This male Spotted Black Crow (Euploea crameri bremeri) was seen "attacking" a late instar caterpillar of its own species. I observed that the caterpillar was crawling and munching at a stem of its host plant, when the male butterfly descended on it and repeatedly clawed at the caterpillar.

In the photo of the adult butterfly with open wings, the curved dorsum of the forewing confirms it as a male. It is not known whether the caterpillar is a male or female. The Danainae have been observed to use their sharp foreleg claws to scrape the leaves and seed pods of some plants so that the wounded plant oozes fluids that the butterfly feeds on.

The sharp claws that can do damage to the plants can also inflict some serious damage to the caterpillar's skin. In the picture above, it can be seen that the butterfly is holding on to the caterpillar with its forelegs and the claws dug into it. This is the first time I have seen a butterfly "attack" a caterpillar although I wonder why it is doing so. A phenomenon known as "pupal rape" has been described for Heliconius butterflies where the males are observed to mate with a female even when it is still in the pupa!  But in this case, trying to mate with a caterpillar would be futile!

If anyone has any suggestions as to why this adult Spotted Black Crow is attacking the caterpillar (which is also of the same species) with its claws, please share your observations and opinions.

Text and Photos by Khew SK