98
V. R. BURKHARDT
Kong," published in 1907 illustrated about that number. Since the last war a dozen entomologists have added to the check list, and over fifty fresh discoveries have been made. The most striking was the large "bird-wing" ornithoptera Troides helena (Linn.) found in abundance in an obscure wood in the New Territories by Wallis in 1952. The butterfly is black with yellow hind wings and the male has a span of five inches whilst his mate has three quarters of an inch more. Eggs and larvae were found on aristolochia, a creeper which imparts an unpleasant taste to the larvae of this and other insects which patronise it as a food plant. Unfortunately the local villagers stripped the trees of the vines and Troides helena has not been recorded since 1958. In the two years of its abundance several people bred the butterfly from the egg. Its larva is very similar to that of Papilio aristolochiae being black, with numerous processes like fleshy spines, and a white belt in the centre of the body.
PAPILIO PARIS
Whilst England has only one of the Swallowtail family, Papilio machaon, which is confined to the fens of Cambridge and Norfolk, Hong Kong can count seventeen, many of which are very common. Perhaps the most striking is Papilio paris whose sapphire hind wing patch catches the eye as the insect flashes past. The ground colour is rifle green, spangled with gold dust. When freshly emerged the patch is the greenish blue of a turquoise, but these outer scales are shed in flight, and the under feathers are a brilliant sapphire blue.
The butterfly is to be seen throughout the year except for the winter months from about mid December to mid February, the cycle from egg to imago being about sixty days. The eggs, globular and of a greenish tinge, are laid on the underside of the leaves of Xanthoxylum nitidum, a prickly woody climber or half climbing shrub, very common in the Colony. An alternate food plant is Todalia asiatica, a prickly bush, which is rather scarce, but much appreciated by Papilio paris where it occurs.
When the young caterpillars hatch they are brownish in colour, though after the first moult they change to light green. The second, third, and fourth segments are much swollen and two processes form on each of these segments, those on the second being the most pronounced.
98
V. R. BURKHARDT
Kong," published in 1907 illustrated about that number. Since the last war a dozen entomologists have added to the check list, and over fifty fresh discoveries have been made. The most striking was the large "bird-wing" ornithoptera Troides helena (Linn.) found in abundance in an obscure wood in the New Territories by Wallis in 1952. The butterfly is black with yellow hind wings and the male has a span of five inches whilst his mate has three quarters of an inch more. Eggs and larvae were found on aristolochia, a creeper which imparts an unpleasant taste to the larvae of this and other insects which patronise it as a food plant. Unfortunately the local villagers stripped the trees of the vines and Troides helena has not been recorded since 1958. In the two years of its abundance several people bred the butterfly from the egg. Its larva is very similar to that of Papilio aristolo chiae being black, with numerous processes like fleshy spines, and a white belt in the centre of the body.
PAPILIO PARIS
Whilst England has only one of the Swallowtail family, Papilio machaon, which is confined to the fens of Cambridge and Norfolk, Hong Kong can count seventeen, many of which are very common. Perhaps the most striking is Papilio paris whose sapphire hind wing patch catches the eye as the insect flashes past. The ground colour is rifle green, spangled with gold dust. When freshly emerged the patch is the greenish blue of a turquoise, but these outer scales are shed in flight, and the under feathers are a brilliant sapphire blue.
The butterfly is to be seen throughout the year except for the winter months from about mid December to mid February, the cycle from egg to imago being about sixty days. The eggs, globular and of a greenish tinge, are laid on the underside of the leaves of Xanthoxylum nitidum, a prickly woody climber or half climbing shrub, very common in the Colony. An alternate food plant is Todalia asiatica, a prickly bush, which is rather scarce, but much appreciated by Papilio paris where it occurs.
When the young caterpillars hatch they are brownish in colour, though after the first moult they change to light green. The second, third, and fourth segments are much swollen and two processes form on each of these segments, those on the second being the most pronounced.
|
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.