''Hypolimnas anomala'', commonly known as the Malayan eggfly or crow eggfly, is a species of eggfly butterly.

Subspecies

Subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

include: *''Hypolimnas anomala anomala'' (southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Palawan, Philippines, Bali, Lombok, Enggano, Bawean) *''Hypolimnas anomala arnoldi'' Fruhstorfer, 1903 (Kangean, Sumbawa, Flores) *''Hypolimnas anomala discandra'' Weymer, 1885 (Nias) *''Hypolimnas anomala euvaristos'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Philippines: Mindanao) *''Hypolimnas anomala interstincta'' (Butler, 1873) (Borneo) *''Hypolimnas anomala stellata'' (Fruhstorfer, 1912) (Sulawesi, Buton, Kabaena, Bangai, Sula) *''Hypolimnas anomala sumbawana'' Pagenstecher, 1898 (Sumbawa) *''Hypolimnas anomala truentus'' Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Philippines: Luzon and possibly Babuyanes) *''Hypolimnas anomala wallaceana'' (Butler, 1873) (Sulawesi)

Distribution and habitat

This species is present as various subspecies in Southeast Asia (

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, Australia). It especially occurs in lowlands and tropical rainforests, wastelands, hill parks and natural reserves.

Description

''Hypolimnas anomala'' can reach a

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

of . These butterflies have brown forewings with a purple sheen. They show variable white markings. Usually there are a double row of white marginal spots and three pale streaks on each forewing. The hindwings are rather paler, with dark brown veins. The undersides of both wings are similar to the uppersides. In the adult butterflies only four legs are present.Australian Lepidoptera
/ref> These butterflies mimic ''

Euploea ''Euploea'' is a genus of milkweed butterflies. The species are generally dark in coloration, often quite blackish, for which reason they are commonly called crows. As usual for their subfamily, they are poisonous due to feeding on milkweeds a ...

'' species.

Biology

Females lay gold-colored globular eggs in a large cluster on the underside of the leaves. They hatch after about 3–4 days. The 6th (and final) instar caterpillars are black with yellow spots and spines. Also, the head is yellow. with long black cephalic horns. They are gregarious and usually occur in large numbers. They feed on leaves of

Urticaceae The Urticaceae are a family, the nettle family, of flowering plants. The family name comes from the genus ''Urtica''. The Urticaceae include a number of well-known and useful plants, including nettles in the genus ''Urtica'', ramie (''Boehmeria ...

(''

Pipturus argenteus ''Pipturus argenteus'', known as false stinger, native mulberry, white mulberry, white nettle, amahatyan (Chamorro language, Chamorro), and ghasooso (Carolinian language, Carolinian), is a small tree native to tropical Asia, northern and eastern ...

'', '' Pipturus arboresceus'', '' Pouzolzia'', '' Villebrunea'' species ) and

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

(''

Claoxylon ''Claoxylon'' is a flowering plant genus in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, comprising dioecious subshrubs to small trees. It was first described as a genus in 1824.Jussieu, Adrien Henri Laurent de. 1824. De Euphorbiacearum Generibus Medicisq ...

'').Michael F Brab
Butterflies of Australia: Their Identification, Biology and Distribution
/ref>

Gallery

File:Hypolimnas anomala guarding eggs on Pipturus argenteus leaves. Tanguisson, Guam.jpg, Guarding eggs on host plant, Pipturus argenteus. Tanguisson, Guam File:Hypolimnas anomala caterpillars foraging on Pipturus argenteus leaves. Tanguisson, Guam.jpg, Caterpillars foraging host plant, Pipturus argentues. Tanguisson, Guam File:Hypolimnas anomala caterpillar foraging on Pipturus argenteus leaf. Tanguisson, Guam.jpg, Caterpillar foraging on Pipturus argenteus leaf. Tanguisson, Guam File:Hypolimnas anomala 248053882.jpg, Chrysalis File:Hypolimnas anomala 135721174.jpg, Dorsal view with blue wings File:Hypolimnas anomala on Pipturus argenteus leaf. Tanguisson, Guam.jpg, Dorsal view with blue wings. Tanguisson, Guam

References

External links

Tree of Life

Bibliography

*Corbet AS, Pendlebury HM, and Eliot JN. 1992. The butterflies of the Malay Peninsula. Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur. *Parsons M. 1999. The butterflies of Papua New Guinea: their systematics and biology. Academic Press, San Diego. *Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 566–567.

References

Butterflies described in 1869 anomala Butterflies of Singapore Butterflies of Borneo Butterflies of Java Taxa named by Alfred Russel Wallace {{Nymphalidae-stub