Euploea alcathoe

Description

Euploea alcathoe, commonly known as the no-brand crow, Eichhorn's crow or striped black crow, is a common butterfly found from India to Borneo, and in the Moluccas, New Guinea and Australia. It belongs to the crows and tigers subfamily of the Nymphalidae (brushfooted butterflies). The wingspan is about 80 millimetres (3.1 in). Adults are black, fading somewhat towards the wing margins. There are arcs of white spots at each forewing apex and around each hindwing termen. The butterflies keep to within 3 metres (9.8 ft) of the ground and they can be found in patches of sun underneath the forest canopy where they alight on understory leaves and small twigs. The larvae feed on Nerium indicum, Nerium oleander, Mandevilla, Asclepias, Hoya australis, Marsdenia australis, Ficus platypoda, Gymnanthera oblonga and Ficus obliqua in Australia. The larvae of the endangered Gove subspecies, Euploea alcathoe enastri, also feed on the vines of Parsonsia alboflavescens, and Tylophora benthamii. Young larvae are pale orange with four pairs of black tentacles (filaments). Later instars develop a black and white pair of bands and several black bars on each abdominal segment. Full-grown larvae reach a length of 50 millimetres (2.0 in). Euploea alcathoe adults are most common in the monsoonal wet season between December and May in Australia, and there may be several generations over the course of a year.