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Project Noah Nature School
Papilio Demodocus
A large colourful butterfly from the Papilionidae Family. As its name suggests, its larvae feed on the leaves of citrus trees and this one was raised from a caterpillar we collected from our lemon tree. The caterpillars has two main instars. The first is black and white colouring to disguise it as a bird dropping, and the final is a large green and white colouring with red projections when threatened that emit a foul smell. The Swallow tail is pictured around an hour after emerging and is still strengthening its wings. it flew away safely.
Usually around natural or farm citrus.
Spotted on Nov 11, 2016
Submitted on Nov 11, 2016
8 Comments
Congrats. Well deserved SOTW. Beautiful pictures, Michael.
Thank you Leuba. I was so blown away by the colours and the wings still inflating after emerging.
What a beauty ! Love the stripes on the abdomen that continue up the wings. So fresh too...Thanks for sharing and Congratulations on the SOTW Michael !!
Greetings Everyone!!! Thank you so very much for the spotting nomination and your kind words. It was the most beautiful sight for the start of summer here in Cape Town. So lucky to find it.
Congratulations Michael! Thank you for sharing :)
Beautifull capture Michael Strydom,rigth time in the rigth place :-) congrats on the SOTW and thanks for sharing
Congratulations Michael, this freshly-emerged butterfly is our Spotting of the Week!
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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 Michael!