Danaid Eggfly
NYMPHALIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 28 June 2004)
(Photos: courtesy Clive Pratt and
The Insect Company)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 28 June 2004)
(Photos: courtesy Clive Pratt and
The Insect Company)
This species was probably named after the God Latona of Ancient Egypt.
The Caterpillars are green with a pink patch on the back of the first abdominal segment, and black spots on the next three segments. The head has four long horns, with shorter horns between each pair. The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 5 cms. It lives on a silk platform that it constructs on its foodplant. The Caterpillars feed on a number of species of plant, including :
The pupa is green with white markings. It is suspended head downward from a cremaster from a branch, and has a length of about 3 cms.
The adult butterflies are brown with a submarginal band of black spots, which are wide at the forewing tip and narrow at the hindwing tornus. Underneath, they are orange with thin wavy black lines. The males have a lilac tinge underneath. The butterflies have a wingspan up to 8 cms.
The species occurs in New Guinea, and in Australia on Cape York, in the far north of Queensland. Specimens may be purchased from The Insect Company.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 530-531.
G.A. Wood, Some early stages of Charaxes latona Butler (Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae:Charaxinae), Australian Entomological Magazine, Volume 13 (1986), pp. 1-2.
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