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Project Noah Nature School
Papilio demoleus
Green with two circlets around the head. It had drawn its body up and is preparing to pupate. The pupa is stuck to the pipe but the free end points upwards! I learnt something interesting ...it seems the pupa comes in two colour forms. In the green form, the pupa is obviously, green and it is green because it is on a plant. In the brown form, the pupa is mainly greyish brown with dark patches; this is because it is on the bark. This one is the brown morph. The adult emerged on the 18th of November; very early in the morning so I did not get to see it. The fourth photo shows the empty pupal case and the newly emerged resting butterfly. The adult rested for a longish time and slowly flapped its wings from time to time and then, flew away. i feel quite proprietorial about it...may it stay safe wherever it has flown but may it come back to lay its eggs in my garden. More details in the link provided.
Washing machine exhaust water pipe ...an ill-chosen place to pupate. Urban backyard. There are many ant species nearby.
The pupa was complete when I saw it on 8 November 2020... in the morning. Just hoping that the butterfly emerges when I am around. The second photo shows the pupa on 13th November...morning. Still another 3-4 days to go. Emerged on 18th November 2020. the pupal case did not turn transparent so I had no warning it was about to emerge.
Just a line to say I added photos of the adult that emerged. @ Ornithoptera80...you may want to see the pretty butterfly you ID-ed for me.
Spotted on Nov 7, 2020
Submitted on Nov 7, 2020
