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Euploea core
This exquisite metallic looking pupa belongs to the Common Crow or Oleander Butterfly. The metallic look appears in gold and/or silver combinations & also a dark bronze and milky opal colour at various stages. About 2cm in length. As the 'shell' becomes transparent over a 2-week pupating stage the legs, eyes, patterns & dark colour of the wings can be seen through it before the butterfly emerges. Adult butterflies are black to dark brown in colour with white dots & markings, a blue sheen can be seen on wings in the open position. The butterflies feed on flower nectar from a variety of plants
Food plants include the introduced Oleander tree, some native vine species, some fig species & a variety of other plants that individuals prefer or become accustomed to when food is in short supply. Found throughout many areas of Australia.
It has been an amazing season for butterflies with so many different species and in greater numbers.
Spotted on Mar 4, 2015
Submitted on Mar 4, 2015
8 Comments
Thanks Mark.
Beautiful job KD.
That's wonderful Fyn thank you. I appreciate the nomination. The number of butterflies & chrysalis is growing daily, such a beautiful time of year, I am seeing butterfly species I have never seen before!
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!
Stunning. Thank you for sharing :)
I saw a pupa once...an attractive green and halfway around it like a circlet of sorts glittering tinsel bead-like or maybe diamond. I never realized pupas could be so beautiful...what purpose (if beauty needs a purpose :( I wonder...an dcongrats on your 900th...looking forward to your next century and the 1000th or the BIG FOUR (incidentally, an Agatha Christie book)
Thank you SukanyaDatta. These are incredibly beautiful, you just can't stop looking at them especially when the sunlight glints off them & the colours shine from the bushes they hang from. It's almost like walking into a jewelry store.
Amazing....lovely, lovely pupa.