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Project Noah Nature School
Acraea issoria
Dark morph of the Yellow Coster caterpillar.
Seen along a trail through highland farms and secondary forest near the village of Siulak Deras on the edge of the Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia.
Judging by the plant's appearance here and http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/177..., almost certainly something in the Urticaceae (nettle family).
Thanks, EarlyStages! You seem like quite the expert! The bush this guy was on was filled with his brother and sisters. Any idea what the plant is?
Luke, note the two drops of probably distasteful exudate on its spines. EnvUnlimited, your spontaneous suggestion was correct in that Longwing and Coster caterpillars are in the same Heliconiinae subfamily and thus share many characteristics such as appearance, hostplants, unpalatability, etc. FYI on a darker larval morph of this widespread butterfly . . .
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/112...
I think the second image is the best I've got as far as the whole body being somewhat in focus, unfortunately.
I'd say it was about 2- 2.5 inches if I remember correctly.
Luke, what was the approximate length/size of this caterpillar, please? Do you have any shots that show all of it in focus? Thanks!
Thanks, Env! However, Heliconius butterflies seem to be only found in the New World.
Spotted on Feb 1, 2013
Submitted on Feb 6, 2013
