Parthenos sylvia

Parthenos sylvia (Parthenos sylvia)

Phylum — arthropoda
Class — insecta
Order — lepidoptera
Family — nymphalidae

Genus – parthenos

Appearance

The larva is brown, speckled with white dots, and has broad greenish dorsal and lateral stripes. Each segment bears 4 multi-branched spines, purplish brown at the base and red on the outer half.

The wingspan of this butterfly is about 48-75 mm. The dorsal wing surface is mainly black, with distinctive stripes crossing over the body and streaks along the bottom hindwing edges. The forewings contain a row of large, white cells, while fewer and smaller white spots are found on the upper edge of the hindwing.

Habitat

Parthenos sylvia occurs in a wide distribution across South and Southeast Asia.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity.

Parthenos sylvia is a powerful and fast flying butterfly. The flight consists of short periods of gliding, alternating every few seconds with shallow but rapid flickering wing beats.

Butterflies like to sit with their wings outstretched.

Diet

Caterpillars feed on Passionflowers (Adenia sp.) and herbaceous vines (Tinospora sp.), whereas adults nectar from Verbena (Lantana sp.) and other flowers.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay eggs one by one on the leaves of the forage plant. Eggs are gray and oval. It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums for 6-8 insects, placing a pot with a forage plant in it. Temperature in the terrarium is 22-25 ^oC at the humidity of 65-75%. The chrysalis occurs in 2 forms, either pale green or dark olive. It is rather plain in appearance, without protuberances, and is suspended by the cremaster from beneath a leaf. The life cycle takes a little more than a month. Butterflies live up to 3 weeks.

In captivity

The mesh terrarium with a size of 50 × 50 × 70 mm is suitable for keeping butterflies. Room temperature is necessary. Daylight time is 12 hours. You can feed butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10.