Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Papilio Linnaeus, 1758
Species: polytes Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies: romulus Cramer, 1775
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 70-85mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Murraya koenigii (Rutaceae, Common Name: Indian Curry Leaf), Merope angulata (Rutaceae, common name: Mangrove Lime),  Citrus maxima (Rutaceae, common name: Pomelo), Citrus aurantifolia (Rutaceae, common name: Lime) and other Citrus spp.



     A female form -polytes  Common Mormon sunbathing on a leaf.


    A male Common Mormon puddling in the western nature reserve.


    A male Common  Mormon puddling on damp ground.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Above, the  male is black with a band of large whitish yellow spot running across the hindiwng. This band appears to continue to the forewing in the form of several white spots on the distal margin of the forewing. In Singapore, the female appears in two forms: form -polytes which mimics the Common Rose but with an entirely black abdomen; form -cyrus which resembles the male but has a red tornal spot in space 1a of the hindwing. Underneath, the male has a series of yellow to red submarginal lunules on the hindwing, while the female form -polytes  again resembling the male and  form -cyrus resembling that of the Common Rose. Both sexes have a spatulate tail at vein 4 of the hindwing.


     A female form -polytes Common Mormon visiting a flower.


    A female form -cyrus Common Mormon    


    Another puddling male Common Mormon.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour: 
Common Mormon is rather common in Singapore and can be found in both forested and urban areas in Singapore. The fast flying adults visit flowers for energy intakes and the males can be found puddling on damp grounds in their habitat. In urban settings, the adults can be found in housing areas and gardens where Citrus plants are grown. 

  





Early Stages:
The local host plants include the Indian Curry Leaf plant and various Citrus spp. One notable addition is the Mangrove Lime (Merope angulata) which was found to be utilized as larval host plant by members of the Plant Systematics group of the Department of Biological Sciences (NUS) in the recent past. The caterpillars of the Common Mime feed on the young to middle-aged leaves of the host plants.

   
    Host plant : Citrus maxima. Left: Young leaves and mature leaves. Right: a Pomelo fruit.
   

      A mating pair of the Common Mormon with the female giving us a full view of its upperside.

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.


      A mother Common Mormon about to oviposit on a lime plant.
 
     Two views of an egg of Common Mormon, diameter: 1.2mm

    
     Two views of a mature egg, giving a faint front view of the head of the caterpillar.

The egg takes about 3 days to mature. The young caterpillar eats its way out of the mature egg, and then proceeds to finish up the rest of the egg shell. The newly hatched has a rather spiky appearance, and an initial body length of about 3mm. It is yellowish brown dorsally and dark brown laterally, 

     Two views of a newly hatched 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3mm


     Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 3.6mm

In the first 4 instars, the Common Mormon caterpillars resemble bird droppings as they rest on the leaves. The resemblance in the 3rd and 4th instars are stronger with the body also assuming a slimy appearance. As the 1st instar caterpillar grows up to a length of about 5-6mm, the dorsal and dorso-lateral  whitish patch at the posterior segments become more prominent. There is a faint whitish saddle on the 3rd-4th abdominal segments. After about 3 days in 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar.


     Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 4.8mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar has a similar appearance to the late 1st instar caterpillar except for the more distinctly white markings on the middle and posterior body segments, and traces of white on anterior segments. This instar lasts 2-3 days with the body length reaching about 10mm before the next moult.


     Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, newly moulted, length: 5.2mm


     Two views of  a 2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 9.5mm.

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.


     Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 12.5mm.


     Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 16mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the late 3rd instar caterpillar initially but with a more slimy appearance and stronger green undertone. As growth proceeds, the cryptic markings of light to dark green intermingled with white streaks becomes increasing mottled. This instar lasts about 2-3 days with body length reaching about 25-26mm. 



     A 3rd (left) and  a 4th (right)  instar caterpillar found on a Lime plant in a garden.


     Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 21mm

     Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 26mm

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.


    Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 30mm.

 
     Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar,  length: 36mm

The eye spots on the 3rd thoracic segment are connected by a transverse green dorsal band with sinuous markings. A similar band occurs between the 3rd thoracic and the 1st abdominal segments, and features pale purplish bluish gaps between the sinuous markings. The first oblique bars, one on each side, run from the base of abdominal segment 3 to the top of segment 4. The second oblique bars is much shorter and occur at the two sides of abdominal segment 5.


     Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 45mm

As in the case of all Swallowtail butterflies, the Common Mormon caterpillars in all instars possess a fleshy organ called osmeterium in the prothoracic segment. Usually hidden, the osmeterium can be everted to emit a foul-smelling secretion when the caterpillar is threatened.

     A Common Mormon caterpillar everting its osmeterium.

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.

A pre-pupatory larva of the Common Mormon.

A Common Mormon caterpillar molts to its 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.


    Two views of a Common Mormon pupa.


      A mature pupa of the Common Mormon.

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.

A newly eclosed female Common Mormon clinging on to its empty pupal case

References:

• [C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.
• Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006

Life History of the Brown Awl

Life History of the Brown Awl (Badamia exclamationis)
(This is the 100th article in this life history series at BC Blog)



Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Badamia Moore, 1881
Species: exclamationis Fabricius, 1775
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 45-55mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Combretum sundaicum (Combretaceae), Terminalia calamansanai (Combretaceae).


A Brown Awl perching on a flower bud in a forest clearing.


A Brown Awl taking in the afternoon sun on a fallen branch.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

Adults have elongated wings and the hindwing is caudate at vein 1b and excavate along the termen between ends of veins 1b and 2. Above, the wings are dark brown with greyish green scalings at the wing bases. The female has prominent and elongated hyaline streaks in spaces 1b, 2 and 3, and the cell in the forewing. In contrast, these streaks in the male are rather small and subdued. Below, both sexes are pale greyish brown and largely unmarked. There is a small yellowish sub-tornal spot in space 1b of the hindwing, which usually goes unnoticed as the hindwings typically fold up in the dorsal area.

A partial view of the upperside of a female Brown Awl, note the prominent streaks/spots.


A view of the partially open wings of a male Brown Awl, note the inconspicuous streaks/spots.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

This species is moderately rare in Singapore. Adults have been sighted in multiple locations across Singapore, including the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Mandai Orchid Gardens, Central Catchment Nature Reserve and also rarely in urban parks and residential areas. The fast flying adults have a habit of resting on the underside of a leaf or other plant parts when they rest among the foliage of a tree.

A Brown Awl perching on the underside of a leaf.


A Brown Awl enjoys the sun while perching on a brick in MOG.

Early Stages:

Across its vast area of distribution stretching from South Asia to East Asia, and to South-East Asia and southward to Australia, Brown Awl utilizes host plants in several families. Both recorded local host plants, Terminalia calamansanai and Combretum sundaicum, are in the Combretaceae family. It is thus very likely that more host plants, either in the same family or others, are yet to be discovered locally for the Brown Awl. Caterpillars of the Brown Awl feed on the very young to the moderately young (before hardening) leaves of the host plants.

Local host plant: Combretum sundaicum.

The eggs are laid singly on very young shoots of the host plants. Each egg is shaped like a bun with a flattened base (diameter: 0.6-0.7mm). Prominent ridges run from the pole to the base. The micropylar sits atop at the pole. Initially greyish white in coloration, the entire egg turns wine red as it develops, and then decolorizes again to yellowish red when the caterpillar is ready to emerge.

A close-up view of a young shoot of Combretum Sundaicum, showing two eggs of the Brown Awl.


Two views of a 1-day old egg of the Brown Awl.


Two views of a mature egg of the Brown Awl, note the black larval head visible through the egg shell.

It takes 2 days for the collected egg to hatch. The young caterpillar eats just enough of the shell to emerge, and has a length of about 1.5mm. It does not make an attempt to devour the egg shell after its emergence. The golden and cylindrical body has a number of very short white setae. The large head is black, slightly bi-lobed and lightly hairy. The body turns pale yellowish green as it feeds on the leaf lamina and grows in this initial instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 1.7mm.


Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 1.9mm.

The young caterpillar constructs its first shelter by spinning a silk web over a void of space on the young shoot. It rests within the shelter and ventures out to eat on nearby leaf surface. In later instars, the Brown Awl caterpillars also construct leaf shelters but do so by joining leaf blades together. The larval growth of the Brown Awl is rapid in pace for all instars, with all but the final instar lasting only 1.5-2.5 days.

A late first instar caterpillar in its shelter. The focus was varied to show details in the net of silk threads securing the shelter.

After reaching a length of about 3.4-3.8mm in the 1st instar, the caterpillar moults to the next instar after a short dormant period. The 2nd instar caterpillar is pale yellowish green with a faint brown rings on its body segments, from the pro-thorax to the 8th abdominal segment. The yellowish head has an upper transverse brown stripe and two lower short stripes on each side of the adfrontal area. The body and the black head capsule are covered in numerous tiny setae.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 5mm.


A second instar caterpillar in its shelter.

The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches a length of about 6.5-7.5mm, and after 1.5-2 days in this stage, it moults again. The 3rd instar caterpillar has 14 dark brown to black black rings, bold and prominent against the pale yellowish green of the body ground color. There is one ring to each of the 13 body segments and one on the posterior body edge. On the yellow head, the stripes have also become darker and more prominent. This instar lasts another 1.5-2 days with the length reaching 12mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 9.5mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar resembles the 3rd instar caterpillar mostly but has additional intra-segmental dark rings, typically 3 to each segment. These rings are much thinner in width compared to the inter-segmental rings. This penultimate instar takes about 1.5-2 days to complete with the body length reaching up to 21mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, length: 15.5mm.

The final and 5th instar caterpillar has similar body markings as the 4th instar caterpillar. Noteworthy is that dark inter-segmental rings are particularly broader in the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th abdominal segments. On the head capsule, the transverse black stripes seen in the earlier instars are now broken into short and bold dash-like stripes. This stage takes about 3-4 days to complete with body length reaching up to 46mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 30mm.


Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, later in this stage, length: 43mm.

Towards the end of 5th instar, the body of the caterpillar gradually shrinks in length. The fully grown caterpillar ceases feeding and stations itself in a leaf shelter. During the early part of this pre-pupal stage, the caterpillar constructs a silk girdle across the dorsum of its anterior abdominal segments, and a short transverse silk band on the substrate near its posterior end. Both the dorsal point of the girdle and the transverse band are also secured by vertical/oblique threads to the inner wall of the shelter.

Two views of a pre-pupa of the Brown Awl.

After about 1 day of the pre-pupal phase, pupation takes place within the pupation shelter. The pupa secures itself with its cremaster attached to the transverse band. The pupa has a short thorax, a rather long abdomen and a short and pointed golden brown rostrum. Fresh after the pupation event, the body is pale golden brown to dark brown, but after 0.5 to 1 day, the body surface becomes mostly covered in a white substance. Length of pupae: 24-26mm.

A Brown Awl caterpillar turning into a pupa.

Two views of a pupa of the Brown Awl at any early stage with white substance just appearing on the surface.


Two views of a pupa of the Brown Awl, after the white substance has fully formed on the surface.

After 7-8 days, the pupa becomes darkened in color signaling the imminent emergence of the adult. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the mature pupa.

Two views of a mature pupa of the Brown Awl


A newly eclosed male Brown Awl.

References:

• [C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, The Malayan Nature Society.
• Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 1st Edition, 2006
• A Photographic Monograph on Hong Kong Butterflies, Vol. 4, Hong Kong Lepidopterists Society, 2011.