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Bali Impressions-Animals in and around your
house or Hotel-Butterflies |
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Commander -Moduza
procris-Nymphalidae |
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| Native South East Asia Wingspan
6-7.5 cm |
The male and female are similar in
appearance.
It is notable for the mode of concealment employed by
its caterpillar and the cryptic camouflage of its pupa..
The Commander is generally found in forested regions
having moderate to heavy rainfall.
It is abundant along water courses in dry and moist
deciduous forests. It is also found close to villages or
wherever it's larval host-plant Mussaenda frondosa is to
be found.The female Commander lays a single egg on the
underside of the tip of a leaf of the food plant.
The egg is hairy and greenish and looks like a green
strawberry.The egg hatches in 3 to 4 days.
The caterpillar is dirty brown with a chestnut tinge and
dark brown splotches all over. The body also bears
numerous processes which help to break up its outline.
The behaviour of this caterpillar is very interesting in
that it is one of the species of butterfly that makes
long chains of frass. It eats up part of the leaf it is
on and uses bits of leaves which are strung up with silk
along with droppings. The caterpillar rests on the
exposed mid rib of a leaf after removing the leafy
portions on the sides. This behaviour may be to dissuade
ants from crossing over the chain of frass behind which
the caterpillar rests.Before pupating, the caterpillar
wanders around, often far away from the plant it fed on.
It pupates among dried leaves and twigs. The pupa is
brownish in color and rough in texture. It is angular
with prominent wing expansions and bears flat processes
on the head which curl together lmaking a hole between
them. It also has numerous lines and markings that make
it look like a rolled up dried leaf. |
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Caterpillar feed on: |
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Cinchona officinalis |
Mussaenda frondosa. |
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Neolamarckia cadamba |
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