Know your butterflies: The Red Pierrot: Youtube video
The first thing you notice when you see a Red Pierrot (Talicada nyseus) butterfly, is its wonderful coloration. With its Orange-white wings adorned with black spots, this low flying butterfly is an eye-candy for sure. The Red Pierrot is a member the Polyommatini (Blues) tribe of Lycaenidae family or Gossamer-winged butterflies, the second largest family of butterflies.
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Figure 1: Red Pierrot perching on a arborvitae plant |
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Classification:
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Subspecies in India
Habit:
The butterfly is a low-flier and often take short flights along the ground, perching often on branches or grass. Unlike most butterflies which flutter around large-bright flowers for nectar, the Red Pierrot is a shy garden dweller. It prefers grass lawns covered with wildflowers such as false daisies and spends most of its time near its host plant Kalanchoe (previously known as Bryophyllum). The upperside of forewings is jet black and similarly black hindwings have orange-yellow ovals which covers the lower half with borders decorated with white spots. |
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Life cycle: |
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Eggs: The eggs are laid by a female on the underside of a leaf, one egg at a time. They are light green in color ellipsoidal typical of Lycaenidae family. The hatching time for eggs is 3-4 days. Larva: The larval stage is divided into 5 stages (Instars) extending from 2-2.5 weeks. Initial larvae are about 2 mm in size and green colored. As they mature the colors turns yellowish and head becomes distinguishable. Larvae usually feed on the inside of the leaves, mining their way between the upper and lower layers of the leaf. Supplementary video 1: Leaf mining caterpillar of Red pierrot butterfly Deposits
of frass and larvae feeding inside translucent leaves can be easily
seen during development. When one leaft is finished they come out and
start mining on a fresh leaf. In the later stages larval body becomes
segmented and sideward black dots on the segments develop. In its final
pre-pupatory stage, the larva comes out of hiding (now appearing cream
colored and stocky) and settles in open for pupation. The pupation takes
one-two days to complete and the resulting pupa is yellow colored with a
head and body compartments partially visible. Initial pupa is yellowish and slowly starts to turn dark near the wings as it matures. The Pupal stage lasted 7-9 days. On the morning of eclosion the pupa turns completely black and the butterfly emerges. The upperside black wings can be seen in this phase, it soon climbs for support and settles of an hour before taking flight.
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Eclosion of Red Pierrot butterfly: Youtube video Notes: The Red Pierrots are most active during January to April and for a while around August. This is also the best time when ther can be seen nectaring, mating and laying eggs in the early morning sun. References:
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