GRAPHIUM COLONNA

GRAPHIUM COLONNA (Graphium colonna)

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

Genus – graphium

Appearance

The main color of the wings is dark brown or black. There are numerous yellowish-green spots and stripes on the wings. There are small red dots at the base of the hindwings. The hindwings have long tails.

The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 60–65 mm in females.

Habitat

Graphium colonna is found in Africa.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity. Males patrol the tropical forests looking for receptive females. The species has continuous broods during warmer months, October to April.

Like other caterpillars of this family, the caterpillar of this butterfly has an osmetrium – a gland behind the head that extends in danger and looks like two long orange-red "horns".

Diet

The larva feed on Artabotrys, Uvaria, and Annona species.

The adults will feed from a variety of different flowers and the males are known to exhibit puddling behaviors on regular occasions.

Reproduction

For their reproduction you need a terrarium with a size of 50 x 50 x 70 cm. Females lay eggs on the leaves of the forage plant. It is better to keep the caterpillars in containers with a mesh lid of 6-8 pieces. In the container, you need to place a forage plant. The temperature is 24-26 ^oC at the humidity of 65-75 %. The pupa is light green. It has a small horn on the head. The life cycle takes about a month. The butterfly lives up to 10 days.

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.