Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly

Facts about Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly, "Scientific name for Citrus Swallowtail Butterflyis is Papilio cresphontes". Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly is a Papilio type of butterfly that belongs to the Papilionidae family. The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly are native to Africa, and they are also scientifically called as Papilio demodocus. It is a big swallowtail butterfly common to sub-Sahara area of Africa.

Features

Adult Citrus Swallowtail butterflies have yellow and black color markings with blue and red color eyespots. Usually female Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly are inclined to be bigger than the males.

Similar to other butterfly varieties, courtship in Citrus Swallowtail butterflies is almost the same. As soon as the female butterfly penetrates the visual field of the male butterfly, the male quickly moves to hover above her so that his wings strike swiftly. Then, the female Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly is induced to ground so that the male can try to mate with her. There are different ways in which the male Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly will attract the female, as well as olfactory, visual, tactile, and audio cues.

Male Citrus Swallowtail butterflies make pheromones from dissimilar structures like that of the anal fold of the back wing that will cause the female butterflies make the suitable response. However, females occasionally decide to refuse the mating attempt of the male Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly, usually because of the fact that she previously mated with the other male. She can achieve so by either shunning his approach or, if the female Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly lands, she will flutter her wings fast and lift her abdomen deliberately until the male Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly flies away. In this manner, courtship is chiefly the choice of a female butterfly. In addition, female butterflies also make a pheromone that assists males in determining if a female has mated or not previously.

The Citrus Swallowtail butterfly chiefly mates through the lek system, in which there are collections of male butterflies on undersized mating territories. When the female Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly arrives at the lek, she alters her behavior so that she assists the males to sense her by carrying out an extended and noticeable circular flight. The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly functions on a polygamous system in which a single male is capable of mating with numerous females in a single breeding period.

Diet

Adult Citrus Swallowtail butterflies mostly feed on the nectar of the flowers of a variety of trees. The caterpillar of the Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly feeds on the leaves of citrus trees.

Breeding

Citrus Swallowtail butterflies pass through about three generations for each year. The female butterfly lays her eggs singly on the leaves of citrus trees. These eggs hatch into an immature larva after a span of six days. The unripe larvae have a combination of yellow, black and white colors, with spikes. Their color offers successful camouflage, as they look like bird droppings. The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly cultivate to a length of 10 mm or 15 mm earlier than changing into grown-up larvae.

The grown-up larvae attain a green color body, with pink or white markings and eye-spots. They are capable of attaining a maximum body length of 45 mm. The grown-up caterpillars are short of the camouflage of their juvenile state. As an alternative, while they are endangered by a bird or other killer, they create osmeterium, which is a pronged, orange-colored organ. The organ discharges a powerful odor that functions as a discouragement to their predator.

The caterpillars connect themselves to the branches with silk, changing into pupae. They stay in the pupa form for nearly 2 to 3 weeks earlier than coming out as mature Citrus Swallowtail butterflies.

A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly is a herbivore; Meaning that as a caterpillar its first food is its own eggshell and than it will eat the leaves of the plant on which it is hatched. When it becomes a butterfly, it will feed mostly on nectar from flowers, rotting fruit and water with a "proboscis" - a long narrow tube in their mouth that looks like a straw.

Life cycle of a Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly comes in four stages, egg, larva "caterpillars", pupa "chrysalis" and adult Butterfly.
A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly will attach its eggs to leaves with a special glue.

When Citrus Swallowtail caterpillars become fully grown they will attach to an appropriate leaf or small branch, than they will shed the outside layer of their skin and a hard skin underneath known as a "chrysalis" will be their new look
An adult Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly will come out from the "chrysalis" than it waits a few hours for its wings to dry and fill with blood, before it takes its first flight.

Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly are insects. Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly can see yellow, green, and red. An adult butterfly average life span is from a week to a year
The top flight speed of a Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly is 12 miles per hour (19 Km/ph) and some moths can fly up to 25 miles per hour (40 Km/ph).
A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has sense organ, on their feet or tarsi, for tasting
The estimate is between 15000 and 20000 different species of butterfly.

A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has a small body, made up of three parts – the head, abdomen and thorax. A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has two large eyes, which are made up of many small parts which are called "compound eyes".
A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has two antenna's on the top of their heads, which they use to smell, hear and feel. A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly mouth is a long tube a "proboscis" - a long narrow tube in their mouth that looks like a straw when its done eating, it rolls the tube back up.

A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has three pairs of legs and their feet have little claws that help them stand on flowers. The butterfly's wings are made up of hard tubes that are covered with a thin tissue. The Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly wings are covered with fine dusty like scales. A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly has four brightly colored wings having distinctive patterns made up of tiny scales. The bright patterns scales sometimes have hidden ultraviolet patterns for attracting mates. The bright colors are also used as camouflage to hide them or scare off predictors.
A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly is cold-blooded, which means the body temperature is not regulated on its own. A Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly can't fly or eat if their body temperature is below 82 degrees fah (28 cel). Citrus Swallowtail Butterfly are often basking in the sun with their wings open to gain heat and than the veins in the wings carry the heat to the body.