GRAPHIUM POLICENES

GRAPHIUM POLICENES(Graphium policenes)

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

Genus –graphium

Appearance

The younger caterpillars are light yellow with many brown stripes. The older caterpillars are light green with transverse stripes of white, yellow and black. There are two small tails at the end of the body. There are spines on the head and thoracic part of the body.

The wingspan is 55–60 mm in males and 60–65 mm in females.The main color of the wings is black or dark brown with green stripes and spots. The underside of the wing is with the same pattern, but with a brown background and a thin red stripe on the rear wing. There is one long tail on the hind wings.

Habitat

It is found in tropical Africa.

Behavior

It demonstrates daily activity.Males are seen far more frequently than females, and are often encountered in groups of as many as 30 individuals, imbibing mineralized moisture from muddy tracks and forest roads. When they are feeding, the whole group usually faces into the breeze. The wings are usually held open at an angle of about 45 degrees, and kept constantly quivering. If disturbed the butterflies immediately erupt into flight, but most of them usually re-settle within half an hour at the same spot. When not feeding they rest on the foliage of bushes, with wings held erect if it is hot, or outspread in cooler or hazy conditions.

Diet

The larvae feed on Artabortys, Annona (custard apple), Uvaria and other Annonaceae.

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 one at a time on the young leaves of the forage plant.The eggs are creamy-white, globular, about 1 mm in diameter. The incubation period is about 4 days.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 23-25 ^oC at the humidity of65-75 %. The caterpillar develops for 14-20 days. The pupa is pale green with vertical light yellow lines. The pupal stage lasts 7-15 days.

In captivity

The mesh cage 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 or freshly squeezed orange juice.