Graphium agamemnon
Encyclopedia
The Tailed Jay is a predominantly green and black tropical butterfly
that belongs to the swallowtail
family
. The butterfly is also called Green-spotted Triangle, Tailed Green Jay, or the Green Triangle. It is a common, nonthreatened species native to India
, Sri Lanka
through Southeast Asia
and Australia
. Several geographic races are recognized.
to Saurashtra, Northern India (Kumaon to Assam), Nepal
, Sri Lanka
, Andamans, Nicobars, Bangladesh
, Brunei
, Myanmar
, Thailand
, Laos
, Kampuchea, southern China
(including Hainan
), Taiwan
, South East Asia to New Guinea
, Bougainville
, Solomon Islands
, and Australia
(northern Queensland
).
Underside: fuliginous brown or brownish-black, more or less suffused with pink along the costal margin, on apical area and along the outer margin of the discal markings on the fore wing, broadly along the dorsal and terminal margins and at base on interspaces 6 and 7 on the hind wing; markings similar to those on the upperside but less clearly defined and somewhat more grey in tint. Hind wing black, inwardly red-margined spots superposed on the pink area in interspaces 6 and 7. cilia very narrow, pale pink. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black, thorax above and the abdomen on the sides streaked with greenish grey; beneath: ochreous grey touched on the thorax with pink.
Female similar, but with a streak of greenish white along the dorsal margin on both upper and under sides.
Race decoratus is found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is very similar to the typical form, from which it can be distinguished as follows : Upperside green spots smaller, especially the discal series on the fore wing. Underside hind wing : the red postcostal spot is relatively small but the red part has much increased against the black part; besides the large red anal mark and the mark before the first disco-cellular veinlet, there is a large red spot in the lower median cellule [interspace 2], a smaller red spot in each of the three preceding cellules [interspaces 3, 4, 5] and a streak-like spot at the base of the lower median cellule.
(False Ashoka or Mast Tree), being widely used as an ornamental tree.
, Ixora
, Mussaenda, and Poinsettia
. The females are more likely caught when looking for foodplants or laying eggs.
Tailed Jays are active throughout the year but their abundance depends upon the local monsoon
and availability of the larval host plants. The butterflies generally fly among the tree-tops but descend to ground level in search of flowers or host plants. Because of their relatively fast life cycle (just over one month from egg to adult), Tailed Jays are multivoltine and may produce up to 7–8 broods per year.
It has been noted in one instance to be attracted to lights at night.
This species can take from 33–36 days from egg to adult. The species is multivoltine
with at least 7-8 broods in a year.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rzo8wjfyCsM/SetAU7CJigI/AAAAAAAADPQ/f1xVY9ok_Ns/s1600-h/TJ_egg_c.jpg
e are dark yellowish green with a pale yellow band in the middle of the abdomen
. From the head, which is moderately large, the body increases in thickness rapidly to the 4th or 5th segment and then tapers gradually down to the tail. It has four pairs of spines. The colour is at first smoky-black, but at the last moult becomes a light clear green faintly marked with lines of a darker shade. The fully grown larva is green, fusiform and having small black spots.
It has a pair of osmeterium and black spines on each thoracic segment, the third pair being orange-yellow. A fourth pair is situated on the last segment. The caterpillars undergo five instar
s over a period of 15–16 days, during which many are attacked by parasitoid
wasp
s.
The pupa
e are green or brownish. They are found attached on the underside of leaves; sometimes on the upperside, and are held in place with a body girdle
. The pupal stage lasts for 13–14 days. The horns are tipped with rusty brown.
, Polyalthia cerasoides, Annona squamosa
, Annona reticulata
, Annona discolor, Annona muricata
, Goniothalamus cardiopetalus, Mitrephora heyneana and Uvaria narum of the family Annonaceae
, Michelia doltospa, Michelia champaca
, Milliusa tomentosum, Cinnamomum spp., and Artabotrys hexapetalus.
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Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
that belongs to the swallowtail
Swallowtail butterfly
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are over 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
. The butterfly is also called Green-spotted Triangle, Tailed Green Jay, or the Green Triangle. It is a common, nonthreatened species native to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
through Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Several geographic races are recognized.
Range
Southern IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to Saurashtra, Northern India (Kumaon to Assam), Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Andamans, Nicobars, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, Kampuchea, southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(including Hainan
Hainan
Hainan is the smallest province of the People's Republic of China . Although the province comprises some two hundred islands scattered among three archipelagos off the southern coast, of its land mass is Hainan Island , from which the province takes its name...
), Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, South East Asia to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Bougainville
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
, Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(northern Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
).
Description
Male upperside black. Forewing with the following green markings: a spot at the extreme base of the costal margin, a transverse short bar near base of cell and seven spots beyond, two and two except the apical spot which is single ; two spots beyond apex of cell; a spot at base of interspaces 1a and 1, followed by two oblique short macular bands; a discal series of spots decreasing in size towards the costa, and a postdiscal series of smaller spots that begins with two in interspace 1; the spots in interspace 7 in both series are out of line, placed outwards. Hind wing: three series of similarly-coloured markings that ran transversely across the wing more or less parallel to the dorsal margin, the upper markings (those in interspace 7) white; a short greenish stripe at the extreme base of the wing.Female similar, but with a streak of greenish white along the dorsal margin on both upper and under sides.
Race decoratus is found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is very similar to the typical form, from which it can be distinguished as follows : Upperside green spots smaller, especially the discal series on the fore wing. Underside hind wing : the red postcostal spot is relatively small but the red part has much increased against the black part; besides the large red anal mark and the mark before the first disco-cellular veinlet, there is a large red spot in the lower median cellule [interspace 2], a smaller red spot in each of the three preceding cellules [interspaces 3, 4, 5] and a streak-like spot at the base of the lower median cellule.
Status
Graphium agamemnon is common and not threatened.Habitat
Once found primarily close to wooded country where there is a fairly heavy rainfall, the Tailed Jay is now very common at low elevations and regularly seen in gardens and urban areas due to its foodplant, Polyalthia longifoliaPolyalthia longifolia
Polyalthia longifolia is a lofty evergreen tree, native to India, commonly planted due to its effectiveness in alleviating noise pollution. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow lanceolate leaves with undulate margins...
(False Ashoka or Mast Tree), being widely used as an ornamental tree.
Behaviour
Strong and restless fliers, they are very active butterflies and flutter their wings constantly even when at flowers. They are seldom seen drinking from damp patches. The males are particularly fond of nectaring from flowers such as LantanaLantana
Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region. The genus includes both...
, Ixora
Ixora
Ixora is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 500 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world, its centre of diversity is in Tropical Asia. Ixora also grows commonly in...
, Mussaenda, and Poinsettia
Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as Zack Wood or noche buena, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The name "poinsettia" is after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the US in 1825...
. The females are more likely caught when looking for foodplants or laying eggs.
Tailed Jays are active throughout the year but their abundance depends upon the local monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
and availability of the larval host plants. The butterflies generally fly among the tree-tops but descend to ground level in search of flowers or host plants. Because of their relatively fast life cycle (just over one month from egg to adult), Tailed Jays are multivoltine and may produce up to 7–8 broods per year.
It has been noted in one instance to be attracted to lights at night.
Life cycle
Voltinism
Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism....
with at least 7-8 broods in a year.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rzo8wjfyCsM/SetAU7CJigI/AAAAAAAADPQ/f1xVY9ok_Ns/s1600-h/TJ_egg_c.jpg
Eggs
The eggs are pale yellow and are laid singly on the underside of young leaves, and hatch after 3–4 days.Larva
Young larvaLarva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e are dark yellowish green with a pale yellow band in the middle of the abdomen
Abdomen
In vertebrates such as mammals the abdomen constitutes the part of the body between the thorax and pelvis. The region enclosed by the abdomen is termed the abdominal cavity...
. From the head, which is moderately large, the body increases in thickness rapidly to the 4th or 5th segment and then tapers gradually down to the tail. It has four pairs of spines. The colour is at first smoky-black, but at the last moult becomes a light clear green faintly marked with lines of a darker shade. The fully grown larva is green, fusiform and having small black spots.
Instar
An instar is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each molt , until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or assume a new form. Differences between instars can often be seen in altered body proportions, colors, patterns, or...
s over a period of 15–16 days, during which many are attacked by parasitoid
Parasitoid
A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host organism in a relationship that is in essence parasitic; unlike a true parasite, however, it ultimately sterilises or kills, and sometimes consumes, the host...
wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
s.
Pupa
Pupa
A pupa is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The pupal stage is found only in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago...
e are green or brownish. They are found attached on the underside of leaves; sometimes on the upperside, and are held in place with a body girdle
Girdle
A girdle is a garment that encircles the lower torso, perhaps extending below the hips, and worn often for support. The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English, the term girdle is most commonly used for a form of women's foundation wear that replaced the corset in popularity...
. The pupal stage lasts for 13–14 days. The horns are tipped with rusty brown.
Foodplants
Polyalthia longifoliaPolyalthia longifolia
Polyalthia longifolia is a lofty evergreen tree, native to India, commonly planted due to its effectiveness in alleviating noise pollution. It exhibits symmetrical pyramidal growth with willowy weeping pendulous branches and long narrow lanceolate leaves with undulate margins...
, Polyalthia cerasoides, Annona squamosa
Annona squamosa
Annona squamosa a small well-branched tree or shrub that bears edible fruits called sugar-apple, species of the genus Annona and member of the family Annonaceae more willing to grow at lower altitudes than its relatives Annona reticulata and Annona cherimola making it the most widely cultivated of...
, Annona reticulata
Annona reticulata
Annona reticulata is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae.It is best known for its fruit, called custard-apple, a name it shares with fruits of other species from the same genus: A. cherimola and A. squamosa or sometimes it is called wild-sweetsop,...
, Annona discolor, Annona muricata
Annona muricata
Annona muricata is a member of the family of Custard apple trees called Annonaceae and a species of the genus Annona known mostly for its edible fruits Anona. Annona muricata produces fruits that are usually called Soursop due to its slightly acidic taste when ripe. A...
, Goniothalamus cardiopetalus, Mitrephora heyneana and Uvaria narum of the family Annonaceae
Annonaceae
Annonaceae, also called the custard apple familyis a family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs or rarely lianas.With about 2300 to 2500 species and more than 130 genera,...
, Michelia doltospa, Michelia champaca
Michelia champaca
Magnolia champaca is a large evergreen tree, native to the Indomalaya ecozone . It is best known for its strongly fragrant yellow or white flowers. It is, however, primarily cultivated for its timber, and is also used in urban landscaping...
, Milliusa tomentosum, Cinnamomum spp., and Artabotrys hexapetalus.
General reading
- Collins, N.M. & Morris, M.G. (1985) Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World. IUCN. ISBN 2-88032-603-6
- Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. (2nd Ed), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India
- Gaonkar, Harish (1996) Butterflies of the Western Ghats, India (including Sri Lanka) - A Biodiversity Assessment of a threatened mountain system. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society.
- Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar,Isaac & Punetha,J.C.(1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
- Haribal, Meena (1994) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History.
- Kunte,Krushnamegh (2005) Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press.
- Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
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