LIFE CYCLE OF COMMON MORMON BUTTERFLY

 

LIFE CYCLE OFCOMMON MORMON BUTTERFLY

Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758
Species: polytes Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: romulus Cramer, 1775
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 70-85mm

life cycle consists with egg,larval,pupal and adult stages.

EGGS
The eggs of the Common Mormon are laid singly on the young stem, the petiole or the underside of leaves of the host plant. The egg is pale creamy yellow with a finely roughened surface. It is nearly spherical with a diameter of about 1.2mm.

LARVAL STAGES
In the first 4 instars, the Common Mormon caterpillars resemble bird droppings as they rest on the leaves.  After about 3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.
The 2nd instar caterpillar lasts 2-3 days with the body length reaching about 10mm before the next moult.The newly moulted 3rd instar caterpillar bears no drastic change in physical appearance except for more dark brown to black patches appearing on the mottled body, and the more prominent white saddle mark. This instar takes about 2.5-3 days to complete with the body length reaching up to 16mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the late 3rd instar caterpillar initially but with a more slimy appearance and stronger green undertone.
The next moult brings the caterpillar to its 5th and final instar with a drastic change in appearance.  After the moult to 5th instar, the body ground color is initially mottled green, but this changes gradually to the characteristic smooth green color after 1 day.

The 5th instar lasts for 5-6 days, and the body length reaches up to 45-46mm. Toward the end of this instar, the body gradually shortens in length. Eventually the caterpillar comes to rest on the lower surface of a stem and becomes a pre-pupatory larva.

PUPAL STAGE
Pupation takes place a day later. The pupa suspends itself with a silk girdle from the stem. There are two color forms. In the green form, the pupa is is mainly green with a large yellowish diamond-shaped on the dorsum of the abdominal segments..  In the brown form, the pupa is manly greyish to darker shades of brown. Each pupa has a pair of  cephalic horns, a dorsal thoracic hump and is angled in side view. Length of pupae: 31-32mm.

After 8   days of development, the pupa turns black as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case. The beautiful undersides of its wings are fully displayed as it dries its wings for the first few hours after eclosion.