A HONG KONG BUTTERFLY
67
The female has two indistinct dull red lunules above the anal angle.
Body: Back black, upper part of the sides yellow, abdomen white with two lateral rows of black spots.
Underside: Forewings as in upperside. The white streak on the hindwings forms a 'V' and there are two short white bars above the anal angle. The hind wings are extremely hard to set, as they are not all in the same plane and the white fringes overlap.
The underside of the female differs in having buff instead of white hairs protruding from the body, and ochre markings instead of white on the anal angle.
Postscript
Since the above observations were recorded by Colonel Burkhardt some thirteen years ago, this insect has been observed throughout its entire life cycle. The species is still quite abundant in three widely separated locations in the New Territories and it is almost certainly also established in an inaccessible location on Hong Kong Island.
L. curius has been bred through from the egg on a number of occasions since 1967 by both Carey-Hughes and Pickford, all stages having been photographically recorded.*
The eggs which are 0.75-0.8 mm in diameter are smooth, white and translucent in colour and are found on either side of mature leaves. During observations the eggs hatched early in the morning and the larvae on emergence were greyish green in colour with a pale yellow translucent head, hairy, with the single hairs divided at the tip.
Two days later the larvae entered the second instar and were now 4 mm in length, the head became a definite yellow and the back a much darker greenish grey, flecked with tiny black spots. At this stage the body still has tiny hairs, as can be seen in the photograph.
Three days later the larvae were observed to be 9 mm in length and much blacker in colour, and the underside still a pale lime green.
* See the coloured plates 7-14 at the end of this volume.
A HONG KONG BUTTERFLY
67
The female has two indistinct dull red lunules above the anal angle.
Body: Back black, upper part of the sides yellow, abdomen white with two lateral rows of black spots.
Underside: Forewings as in upperside. The white streak on the hindwings forms a 'V' and there are two short white bars above the anal angle. The hind wings are extremely hard to set, as they are not all in the same plane and the white fringes overlap.
The underside of the female differs in having buff instead of white hairs protruding from the body, and ochre markings instead of white on the anal angle.
Postscript
Since the above observations were recorded by Colonel Burkhardt some thirteen years ago, this insect has been observed throughout its entire life cycle. The species is still quite abundant in three widely separated locations in the New Territories and it is almost certainly also established in an inaccessable location on Hong Kong Island.
L. curius has been bred through from the egg on a number of occasions since 1967 by both Carey-Hughes and Pickford, all stages having been photographically recorded.*
The eggs which are 0.75 -0.8 mm in diameter are smooth, white and translucent in colour and are found on either side of mature leaves. During observations the eggs hatched early in the morning and the larvae on emergence were greyish green in colour with a pale yellow translucent head, hairy, with the single hairs divided at the tip.
Two days later the larvae entered the second instar and were now 4 mm in length, the head became a definite yellow and the back a much darker greenish grey, flecked with tiny black spots. At this stage the body still has tiny hairs, as can be seen in the photograph.
Three days later the larvae were observed to be 9 mm in length and much blacker in colour, and the underside still a pale lime green.
* See the coloured plates 7-14 at the end of this volume.
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