Delias heningia

Delias heningia(Delias heningia)

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

Genus –delias

Appearance

The caterpillars are yellowishbrown with a black head.

Maleshave got the wingspan of 66-78 mm and females - 80-92 mm. The color is black. Males have got abluish grey band on the forewing and females – the white one. There is a large yellow spot on the hindwings. On the underside of the hindwings there are small red spots at the base of the wings and a large spot closer to the center of the wing. The color is varied.

Habitat

Delias heningialives in the Philippines.

Behavior

Delias heningia demonstrates daily activity. Butterflies are found in forests, where they flutter high in the crowns of trees, and on flowersin gardens.

Diet

The caterpillars feed on mistletoe leaves. Adult butterflies feed on nectar.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay eggs in groups on the leaves of the forage plant. Eggs are oval and light yellow.It is better to keep the caterpillars in terrariums of 6-8 pieces. In the terrarium, you need to put a sprig of mistletoe.Forage plants should be replaced every 3-4 days.The temperature is 22-25 ^oC at the humidity of60-70%. Pupae are yellowwith black spots.

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 the butterflies with honey syrup diluted with boiled water in a ratio of 1: 10.