Life History of the Leopard Lacewing

Life History of the Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Cethosia Fabricius, 1807
Species: cyane Drury, 1773
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 80mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Passiflora foetida (Passifloraceae), Adenia macrophylla var. singaporeana (Passifloraceae)

A female Leopard Lacewing visiting the flower of Bidens alba.

A female Leopard Lacewing.

A female Leopard Lacewing showing its uppersidevisiting Lantana flowers.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Above, the male is orange with apical two-thirds of the forewing black with a white and oblique band lying within. The termen of both forewing and hindwing  is indented and lined with a broad and black marginal area containing a lace-like pattern of white markings. The female is mostly similar but with the orange background replaced with a  pale yellowish to whitish coloration, and has its hindwing endowed with more discal and postdiscal black spots.    Underneath, the wings are variegated with orange, red, white, black and blue. In the forewing, the cell area is transversed with bars of black, bluish-white and  red coloration, beyond which a broad, white and oblique band lies just below the subapical area. In the hindwing, the ground colour is orange in the male and pale creamy yellow in the female. The basal area and the costal margin are crossed by short black lines, with the ground colour more reddish in the male. A somewhat broad discal band and a narrow post-discal band, both white, are  bordered with  black spots and striae.  As in the upperside, the terminal margins are black and house lace-like white markings, with additional short white straie pointing from the margin inwards to the tip of the V-shaped markings. 

A male Leopard Lacewing showing its upperside.

A male Leopard Lacewing visiting flowers.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

This migrant species was recently discovered in Singapore in 2005. Since then, it has established a firm foothold and can be considered a common species in Singapore. Across the island, Leopard Lacewing can be found flying in many wastelands where its host plant, Passiflora foetida, grows in relative abundance. The adults have the habit of visiting flowers for nectar and are very fast on the wings.

Early Stages:

The local host plant adopted by Leopard Lacewing as it spread quickly across the island is Passiflora foetida, a member of the Passifloraceae family commonly found in wastelands. In captive setting, the Leopard Lacewing has also been breed succesfully on another plant in the same family, Adenia macrophylla var. singaporeana, a plant which only occurs naturally within the catchment reserves. This might account for the sightings of Leopard Lacewing in some areas of the nature reserves.

Host plant : Passiflora foetida

The caterpillars of the Leopard Lacwing feed on the leaves, young shoots and outer surface of older stems of the host plant. The Leopard Lacewing caterpillars are gregarious throughout all five instars, often eating (leaves and stems), resting and moulting together in groups.

A mating pair of Leopard Lacewing.

A female Leopard Lacewing caught in the act of ovipositing.

A mother Leopard Lacewing lays eggs on its host plant in a large and loose cluster on the surface (usually the underside) of a leaf, or on a young stem and even on a tendril. Each yellowish egg is barrel-shaped with a ribbed surface. It has a height of about 1.3-1.4mm, and a cross-sectional diameter of about 0.8-0.9mm.

A small group of eggs laid on a young stem.

A loose cluster of eggs laid on the underside of a leaf.

Top: A group of fresh eggs laid on a tendril of Passiflora foetida. Bottom: Young caterpillars emerging from the eggs 5 days later.

Each egg takes about 5-6 days to hatch. The infant caterpillar nibbles away a small portion of the egg shell and pushes its way through the crack. Unlike the newly hatched of many other Nymphalidae species, it does not turn around to devour the empty egg shell. The newly hatched has a cylindrical body in yellowish brown, and an initial body length of about 2.2mm. The body is covered in a grid of greyish tubercles, each with a single long seta. The head is black and there is a pair of greyish spines on the first thoracic segment. A greyish to black anal plate is present. The young caterpillar either skims the lamina on a young leaf or nibbles away at the tip of a young stem.

Mature eggs with the black head and black body setae of the caterpillar visible through the egg shell.

Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar, length: 2.2mm.

A group of 1st instar caterpillars resting between feeds, day 2 in this stage, with color changes.

As the 1st instar caterpillar feeds and grows, its body segments take on alternating yellow and white coloration. It grows to a length of 5.5-6mm in the 1st instar, and the moult to the 2nd instar takes place after about 2-3 days in this isntar.

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

The 2nd instar caterpillar is wine-red in most segments, creamy yellow in 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th abdominal segments, mostly yellow but with a touch of wine-red in all 3 thoracic segments. The rows of tubercles in the 1st instar are replaced by 6 longitudinal rows of fine-pointed black spines, 3 to each side of the body. Among these, the dorso-lateral rows of spines are the longest. A pair of short and black coronal spine appears on the head. This instar lasts 2-2.5 days with the body length reaching about 9mm before the next moult.

A group of two 2nd instar caterpillars, length: 6mm.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, 9mm.

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). A pink reddish dorsal patch can be seen in the 2nd thoracic segment, 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th abdominal segments. This instar takes 2-3 days to complete with body length reaching up to 14mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, 14mm.

A group of 3rd instar caterpillars on a vine of the host plant in the field.

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 pinky red dorsal patch on the 2nd thoracic segment seen in the earlier instar is no longer present, with only an outline still visible. The 4th instar lasts about 3-4 days with body length reaching about 22mm.

A Leopard Lacewing caterpillar moults from 3rd to 4th instar.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 21.5mm.

A group of 4th instar caterpillars munching on a vine of the host plant.

The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar. The caterpillar is little changed in appearance coming into this instar. One visible change is that the coronal spines are now about 2x the height of the head capsule. This phase lasts for 4-5 days and the body length reaching up to 39mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in the stage, length: 23.5mm

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 32mm

Towards end of 5th instar, the caterpillar ceases feeding and wanders around in search of a suitable pupation site. Finally the caterpillar finds a spot on the underside of a leaf, stalk or stem where it spins a silk pad to which it secures itself with graspers at its posterior end. From this anchor, the caterpillar hangs vertically head-down and becomes a pre-pupa.

A pre-pupa of the Leopard Lacewing.

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 dorso-lateral processes. A pair of black foliaceous processes adorn the head. Body color is either dark brown or yellowish brown, both mottled with white and black patches. There are several dorsal spots of bright silverish. When disturbed, the body could jerk sideways through the movement of the posterior abdominal segments. Length of pupae: 26-28mm.

A Leopard Lacewing caterpillar moults to its pupal stage.

Three views of a pupa of Leopard Lacewing; dark form.

Three views of a pupa of Leopard Lacewing; yellowish brown form.

After about 6 days of development, the mature pupa are darkened, especially in the wing spad. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case.

Three views of a mature pupa of Leopard Lacewing; yellowish brown form.

A female Leopard Lacewing emerges from its pupal case.

Newly eclosed Leopard Lacewing drying its wings on the pupal case. Left: female; Right: male.

References:

• [C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.
• Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006.
• A Field Guide to the Butterflies of SIngapore, Khew S K, Ink on Paper Comm. Pte. Ltd, 2010.

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Anthony Wong, Antonio Giudici, Bobby Mun, CK Chng, Caijin Huang, Jonathan Soong, Mark Wong, Sunny Chir and Horace Tan

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Another New Discovery makes it #305!

Another New Discovery makes it #305!
The Yellow Flat (Mooreana trichoneura trichoneura)

The year 2012 must be a particularly lucky one for ButterflyCircle member Federick Ho. Of the four new species observed by ButterflyCircle members this year, Federick contributed a hat-trick (i.e. 3 hits) to the Singapore Checklist! Spotting new and unrecorded species of butterflies out in the field is a combination of being out at the right time of the day, a pair of sharp eyes, and a matter of being at the right place at the right time, and Federick is doing exactly that so far !

All the four new additions to the Singapore Checklist this year were considered new discoveries, as all four species were not recorded by the early authors in their respective checklists [Ref 1 & 2]. These species are therefore considered new to the Singapore butterfly fauna and it is quite consistent with some of the discoveries from the past years during this period of the north-easterly winds. One theory is that the NE monsoon winds may have carried some species southwards to Singapore from across the Causeway. Of course, some of these new finds could already have existed in the less-explored forested areas of Singapore, just waiting for someone to spot them.

This morning, a quartet of ButterflyCircle members - Federick Ho, Loke PF, Simon Sng and newbie Huang CJ, were out on their usual weekend butterfly shooting hunt when Federick spotted something that he hadn't seen before in Singapore. He signalled for the rest of the team to hurry to his location, whilst taking shots of his new find.

As it turned out, this attractive Hesperiidae from the sub-family Pyrginae (or commonly referred to as the "Flats") known as the Yellow Flat (Mooreana trichoneura trichoneura) has been seen for the first time in Singapore.  This skipper has not been recorded in Singapore before, and is thus a new discovery. ButterflyCircle records it as species #305 in the Singapore Checklist.

The Yellow Flat is described as a forest-dependent species found in lowland jungles up to 2,500ft. In the males, both the mid- and hind-tibiae feature a hair tuft. Its distribution is relatively wide, stretching from India to Thailand and Malaysia and all the way to the Philippines. The upperside is dark brown with a number of hyaline spots on the forewings.  The hindwing has a series of wedge-shaped discal spots and the tornal area is prominently yellow.  On the underside, the colours are more muted, appearing as a pale yellowish white.

Males and females are similar in appearance. The butterfly has a habit similar to many other members of the sub-family and flies swiftly, often perched on the underside of a leaf with its wings spread open flat. The butterfly is described as "rare on the forested plains in Malaya"

Was the species extant in Singapore all this time? Or is it a newcomer "foreign talent" that had just migrated into the forests of Singapore? This rather pristine individual spotted this morning suggests that the species was not one that had travelled far as it showed relatively little wear and tear on its wings. Whatever its origins, we welcome another new species to our sunny little island. And we hope that Federick's lucky streak will continue!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Federick Ho, Huang CJ, Loke PF & Simon Sng

References:

1. The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society. 1991
2. Butterflies of West Malaysia and Singapore, WA Fleming, 2nd Edition, Longmans, 1983
3. Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 2nd Edition, Amarin Printing & Publishing, 2012.

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Random Gallery - Apefly

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Apefly (Spalgis epius epius)

This diminutive butterfly, the Apefly (Spalgis epius epius) belongs to the family Miletinae, collectively referred to as the 'Harvesters'. The caterpillars of the butterfiles of this family are typically carnivourous and feed on coccids, mealy bugs, aphids and even ant larvae. The Apefly is brown and usually unmarked on the upperside, whilst the underside is a greyish buff covered with striations

This Apefly resting on some young leaves, was photographed last weekend by ButterflyCircle member Loke PF at an urban hill park.  The rounded forewings indicate that this is a female of the species, where males typically have sharper wings, particularly a more angled apex on the forewings.

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Random Gallery - Cruiser

Random Butterfly Gallery
The Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella)

Last Sunday was scorching hot out in the field, and ButterflyCircle member EC Goh managed to nail an excellent shot of this puddling male Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella) within the Central Catchment Area nature reserves.  The Cruiser is a common forest butterfly that makes rare forays into urban areas.  The species is dimorphic, in that the male and female are different in appearance.

This shot was taken under direct sun, and EC did well in maintaining the exposure of the underside of the butterfly without blowing out the details. The added bonus that makes this shot special, are the extended legs of the butterfly, that makes it look like a ballerina on tip-toe.

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Butterfly of the Month - October 2012

Butterfly of the Month - October 2012
The Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla cornelia)

"The falling leaves drift by the window... The autumn leaves of red and gold", so goes the lyrics of an oldie, Autumn Leaves.  This version of the Autumn Leaves is in tribute to Andy Williams, who passed away at the age of 85 last month.  This crooner was very much a part of my growing up years as he entertained my family with many of his golden sentimental hits of yesteryear.  As the colours of autumn begin to paint the landscapes of the northern hemisphere, we are now almost at the end of October 2012.   

A heavily-marked female Orange Emigrant feeding on the flowers of Lantana

A couple of months back in my August 2012 article, I mentioned how social media has pervaded many aspects of our lives, and how we interact and relate to the community at large.  Whilst social media platforms like Facebook has its positive side of bringing people and communities together to share information, a grim reminder of the 'dark side' of being too open and vocal with one's thoughts was played out in Singapore recently.

An Assistant Director of the Singapore National Trades Union Congress, probably irritated at the noise from activities at the void deck of her residential block, posted rather inflammatory and racist comments on her Facebook wall.  She was summarily terminated from her employment in all of 24 hours, and the cyberworld was aflame with comments from all and sundry.

A "multi-tasking male Orange Emigrant feeds as it remains mated to the female

A grim reminder indeed, at the seriousness with which racist comments can be dealt with, in multi-racial Singapore, where its delicate racial harmony cannot be taken for granted. And also a timely reminder that in social media platforms like Facebook, one cannot be too careful about saying something and assume that it is only for private viewing. The speed at which socially unacceptable comments can go viral is quite literally, at the speed of light!

Coming back to our world of nature, a definitely more benign and peaceful world, the month of October is associated with the Calendula or Marigold. It belongs to a genus of about 20 perennial or herbaceous plants belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. The Calendula normally has layered petals that are oval in shape and can grow to be 3-7cm across. The colours range through various shades of yellow and orange.

Also featuring a rich orange-yellow colour, is our butterfly of the month, the Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla cornelia).  A predominantly urban butterfly, the Orange Emigrant is often observed in the company of other Pierids, flying powerfully and restlessly in parks and gardens in Singapore.  It has a strong and erratic flight, and is skittish.

A rare upperside shot of a male Orange Emigrant

The Orange Emigrant has white forewings with black borders and deep orange-yellow hindwings on the upperside.  On the underside, both the fore and hindwings are orange-yellow with dark brownish spots and markings.  The female has a series of irregular sub-marginal spots on the forewing above and a broad black marginal border on the hindwing.  The underside markings of the female are more prominent and often of a deeper orange than the male.

The butterfly is often found fluttering around the bushes of its preferred caterpillar host plant, Senna surattensis (Scrambled Egg Bush or Glaucous Cassia).  This roadside plant is common in Singapore, and is cultivated as a popular landscaping bush with its green foliage and bright yellow flowers.

A puddling male Orange Emigrant

The Orange Emigrant is relatively common although the species cannot be said to be abundant or as common as its relative, the Lemon Emigrant. Unlike the Lemon Emigrant, which has many male and female forms, the Orange Emigrant occurs in only a single consistent physical appearance. It is most active on hot sunny days, and flies at treetops as well as coming down frequently to feed on flowers of its favourite nectaring plants.  Occasionally, males of the species are observed to puddle on damp forest paths.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Sunny Chir, Khew SK, Nelson Ong, Anthony Wong & Benjamin Yam

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