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female Common Crow butterfly
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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The male Common Crow butterfly flutters above the female in a mating ritual.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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I watched the male Common Crow hover over the female for several minutes. As I turned away to leave, I saw a flash of orange at the end of the male's abdomen as it extended the orange-yellow brushes. By the time I got the camera out, the display was over so no photo. However if you look closely at the tip of the male's abdomen,. you can just see an orange colour - this must be where the concealed brushes emerge.
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Common Crow larva on potted fig plant
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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Common Crow pupa on rim of a terra cotta flower pot
Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.
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INSECT FACTS |
Identification
The Common Crow Butterfly is a large black butterfly with white spots on the fore wings and a band of elongated spots on the hind wings. The outer wing margins have small white spots. The males have a pair of hidden orange-yellow brushes at the tip of the abdomen, which they can extend into bright coloured patch as part of the mating ritual or to deter predators. These brushes emit a musky odour. The caterpillars are striped. Pupa have metallic silvery sheen.
Other Names
Oleander Butterfly
Size
wingspan 70mm, Caterpillar about 50mm
Habitat
The Common Crow is found in open forest and woodland. Often seen in parks and gardens
Food
Common Crow Butterfly caterpillars feed on a wide range of native plants. They are often found in gardens feeding on Ficus (figs), Hoya, Mandevilla, Nerium oleander, Trachelospermum (star jasmines). The larvae eat the leaf and soft stem parts.
Range
Throughout tropical Australia and eastern Queensland. Adults sometimes disperse further down eastern Australia as far as Victoria, but there are no permanent breeding populations further south than northern New South Wales.
Classification
| Class: | Insecta | | Order: | Lepidoptera | | Family: | Nymphalidae | | Genus: | Euploea | | Species: | core | | Common Name: | Common Crow Butterfly |
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