Thursday, February 18, 2010

Are they related somehow?

 

This butterfly visited our front garden. It looked so much different compared to peacock pansy.  and Papilio helenus or swallowtail   shown in earlier posts. Its rapid movement made capturing it in photographs very difficult indeed. The butterfly must be enjoying the nectar of mussaenda flava or white wings flower. I missed the vintage pose, only a couple of pictures, mostly hidden behind the leaves and some a little bit blurred. But the basic feature and color were there....

  

  

  

  

  

A caterpillar was seen crawling over a stone. It was very quick, a lot quicker than most caterpillars. It has so many minute legs, that probably helped his rapid crawl. Looking at the colorful creature made me wonder if it is related somehow to the butterfly in the earlier pictures. They looked awfully similar.

 Some of us may know the name of the butterfly and whether the caterpillar is really related.




~ bangchik

Latest Update:
Scientific Name of the butterfly: Papilio demoleus malayanus (Lime Butterfly)
.. Reference 1: Malaysia Butterfly Checklist
.. Reference 2: from James:   Fly Away! Fly Away! Fly Away!!!

Scientific Name of the caterpillar: no info yet so far



 

17 comments:

  1. They certainly do look similar, but am unable to answer the question as to whether they are related. The butterfly is beautiful.

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  2. Very beautiful butterfly, Here in Sweden we have to wait a few more month to see any butterflies.
    Thank´s for your nice comment on my blog.
    I really appricate it.

    Have a nice week
    Gunilla

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  3. Lovely pictures of butterflies, they look similar, yes, but if they are related, I don´t know
    Susanne

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  4. I know nothing about them, whether they are related or not, although I agree with you there does seem to be a family resemblance.

    I can sympathize with trying to catch one who is quick and intent on fluttering from flower to flower at the feast. It can be so difficult to capture butterflies on film. But that one was well worth the effort. Lovely!

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  5. I see you haven't found out yet if your butterfly and caterpillar are related. They are beauties!

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  6. Hmmm.. I have no idea, but yah somehow they are realated in a way that they have the same food maybe.., not all but again somehow its the reason they get the same color.

    hmm..i wish i can connect it through my own analysis. But i'm into so many things these days that made my mind not working good! hahaha! good day!

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  7. Some of us may know, but not me. Both are lovely, though.

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  8. The buterfly is lovely, not the caterpillar.

    I have killed a few, though not the same type, in my garden recently.

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  9. Loved your post. I saw my first butterfly of the season yesterday.

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  10. Beautiful, I do wonder if they are related.

    Jen

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  11. You did a really good job capturing the butterfly! It's beautiful. Not so sure on the caterpillar but they are interesting in their own way.

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  12. ... I doubt they are related. I had managed to raise some caterpillars into butterflies and specifically citrus or lime swallowtail butterflies which very much look like the one you captured on camera.
    And I realised to notice the lime caterpillars are green with cream undersides.
    Do check it out here for more details: http://jamesmissier.blogspot.com/search/label/Butterfly.

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  13. Jo
    Michelle
    Gunilla
    Susanne/Manitou
    Meredith
    Corner Gardener Sue
    teJan
    Kim and Victoria
    rainfield61
    Amy
    Muddy Boot Dreams
    tina
    James Missier

    Thanks everyone for being frank enough with your comments. The last comment by James really help. I googled and found some butterflies exactly as in the pictures. The name is

    Papilio demoleus malayanus (Lime Butterfly)

    Family: Papilionidae
    SubFamily: Papilioninae

    The Lime Butterfly is a common butterfly in Singapore, and can be found as often around urban areas as well as parks, gardens and on the fringes of the nature areas. Anywhere there is a Lime Bush (Citrus), it is quite likely that one can find this butterfly near by.

    The common Lime or Kalamansi is cultivated by many Singaporeans as a garnish to the local cuisine. The plant can therefore be found in many gardens and apartments. Where pesticides are not used, it is quite likely that the Lime Butterfly will lay her eggs on the Citrus plant.

    The butterfly is black with large yellow markings on the uppersides. The underside is predominantly yellow with black markings.

    Eggs are laid singly on the Citrus leaves and the young larvae resemble bird's droppings. At the later instars, the larvae become green. The pupa resembles that of the Common and Great Mormons and is attached upright and supported with a silken girdle.

    Ref: http://www.sgbug.org/butterflies/check_list.php?cl_mst_id=1&ac=v&fml_id=0&img=Y

    I cant figure out which butterfly produce little babies like the caterpillar shown. Google has not produced any result yet so far....


    Thanks again.
    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya, Malaysia.

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  14. The butterfly is lovely and your pictures are very good. I am also wondering what type of butterfly the caterpillar will turn into?

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  15. Knowing how difficult it is to snap a pic of a butterfly, I think you have a great picture of them! You can see the colors well. I so enjoy the butterflies visiting my gardens...

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  16. > Noelle.... thanks for the comment. Googling through caterpillars and butterflies, I begin to appreciate that the colour of caterpillars doesn't seem to indicate what the eventual butterfly will look like.

    > Skeeter.... Butterflies don't seem to be my regular subject simply because not many come around. Even when they do, they are so quick, by the time I am ready with the camera, the butterfly is gone...

    ~bangchik
    Putrajaya

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