1. Ape fly (Spalgis
epius)
We had seen the larva of Ape Fly many
times but did not recognise it then. The arippoo (Lantana Camara)
plants in the planter in our balcony were infested with Mealy bugs
and we could see a few bigger ones between the bugs. These were the
larvae of Ape fly feeding on the bugs, they are the only caterpillars
who are carnivorous.We accidently sighted their pupae with those
curious monkey heads and then traced back the larvae. We did not
document it at the time, but will surely put the snaps here at the
earliest.
 |
| Ape Fly (Markada Salabham) |
2. Common Baron (Euthalia
aconthea)
The larva of Common Baron
was discovered and identified by my little sister Abhi. She
had seen the photogragraph of this curious larva in C Susanth's
'Common Butterflies of Kerala'. There were two larve eating away the
leaves of our Banganapally Mango sapling. After some days, the two
were missing and we searched and found the pupa of one on a different
plant nearby. The other was lost.
 |
| Common Baron (Manthalir Salabham) |
 |
| Common Baron Larva |
 |
| Common Baron Pupa |
3. Common Emigrant (Catopsilia
pomona)
The caterpillars were seen on the
leaves of Golden shower 'Kanikonna' (Cassia
fistula) as a group. But we could get only one pupae from the
group.
 |
| Common Emigrant (Kanikkonna Salabham) |
 |
| Common Emigrant Larva |
 |
| Common Emigrant Larva |
 |
| Common Emigrant Pupa |
4. Common Mormon
(Papilio
polytes)
Butterflies
documented here from egg to different stages. Found on two plants
here, Kariveppu and Narakam.
 |
| Common Mormon: Male (Narakakkali) |
 |
| Common Mormon: Femal |
 |
| Common Mormon Eggs |
 |
| Common Mormon Larva, bird dropping stage |
 |
| Common Mormon Larva |
 |
| Common Mormon Larva |
 |
| Common Mormon Larva |
 |
| Common Mormon Pupa |
5. Common Indian Crow (Euploea
core)
The most common of them all,
caterpillars were seen from the beginning itself in our Arali (Nerium
oleander) plants. Unfortunately we are yet to get a good snap of
Common Crow.
 |
| Common Indian Crow (Arali Salabham) Larva |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| Common Indian Crow Pupa |
 |
Common Indian Crow Pupa
|
6. Common Redeye (Matapa
aria)
We saw the caterpillars first, safely
inside the leaf rolls of our bamboo. We knew they were skippers but
had to wait till they came out of the pupae to identify the skipper.
 |
| Common Red Eye (Chenkanni) |
 |
| Common Red Eye |
 |
| Common Red Eye Larva rolled inside bamboo leaves |
 |
| Common Red Eye Larva |
 |
| Common Red Eye Pupa |
7. Coon (Psolos
fuligo)
The caterpillars and even a pupa were
on the leaves of ginger (Zingiber officinalis) from the beginning.
But we are yet to see the butterfly.
 |
| Coon (Cherachirakan) Larva |
 |
| Coon Pupa |
8. Plain Tiger (Danaus
chrysippus)
We were waiting for the tigers to come
on our 'Erikku' (Calotropis gigantea) plants and finally when they
arrived, there were lot of them, nearly 25. But only two of them were
able to become pupae.
 |
| Plain tiger (Chemban Kaduva) |
 |
| Plain Tiger (Chemban Kaduva) Larva |
 |
| Plain Tiger Larva |
 |
| Plain Tiger Pupa |
9. Rustic
(Cupha erymanthis)
10. Tailed Jay (Graphium
agamemnon)
Caterpillars were seen on our 'Aathi'
(Annona reticulata) plant. But they moved out and one of them even
came inside the house and became a pupa clinging on to the wall.
 |
| Tailed Jay (Viravalan) Larva |
 |
| Tailed Jay Larva |
 |
| Tailed Jay Larva |
 |
Tailed Jay Pupa
 |
| Tailed Jay Pupa just before hatching | | | | | |
|
|
|
|
|
11. Water Snow Flat (Tagiades
litigiosa)
By this time we were searching all our
plants to find caterpillars. We could easily find them as they feed
on the leaves. But this was different, as there was a signature leaf
cut on the 'Kachil' (Dioscorea sp.) leaves.
 |
| Water Snow Flat (Thushara Salabham) Larva |
 |
| Water Snow Flat Larva |
 |
| Water Snow Flat Larva |
 |
| Water Snow Flat Pupa |
