NOTES AND QUERIES
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The life cycle varies in time depending on the temperatures prevailing and the progeny of the last brood in October over-winter in the pupal form, emerging the following April.
Details of the life history follow, and as far as we can discover this is the first record of the complete life cycle of Troides helena.
Record of Larval Development
The typical development recorded below refers to a single egg which was found on the 10th April 1973, which with little doubt will have been laid by an over-wintering form from the previous year. Many eggs were observed on the foodplant on this occasion.
Date Day Size Observations April 10 1 On emergence approximately 4-4.5 mm. 11 2 5-6 mm. Colour dark plum, rear segments pale orange, two central saddles white but appear to be vertical 1st instar 12 3 9-10 mm. 13 4 9-10 mm. 14 5 11-13 mm. 15 6 14-15 mm. First traces of diagonal saddle. 16 7 14-15 mm. 17 8 17 mm. 2nd instar 18 9 17 mm. 19 10 19 mm. 20 11 23 mm. 3rd instar 21 12 28 mm. 22 13 34 mm. Body colour changing from dark plum to a dove-grey 23 24 14 34 mm. 25 15 34 mm. 4th instar 26 16 37 mm. 27 17 43 mm. 28 18 60 mm. 29 19 60 mm. 30 20 63 mm. 21 63 mm. Preparing to pupate