Crusier Butterfly
Photo: Courtesy of Mattheus Nube
https://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflyguide/images/vindula_dejone_big.jpg
Cruiser Butterfly There are at least thirteen known subspecies of the Indo-Australian cruiser butterfly, several of which are restricted to a single island in the Pacific Ocean. As their name indicates, cruiser butterflies are strong and lofty fliers. Male members of the species are most often observed cruising along forest roads and edge habitat, but females often soar to great heights, sometimes laying eggs as high as 1,800 meters in the tropical rainforest canopy.
The cruiser butterfly is a medium-sized lepidopteran in the family Nymphalidae, which includes the emperor, admiral, tortoiseshell, and fritillary butterflies. Members of the species have a highly modified front pair of legs and possess wingspans 70 to 100 millimeters wide. The wing upper sides of female cruisers are colored a burnt orange and black. Males, however, tend to be lighter and more yellow. Cruiser butterflies are scientifically known asVindula erota, but are commonly called banded treebrown butterflies in Thailand. The name stems from the cryptic undersides of their wings, which are brown and offer camouflage in dried foliage.
Cruiser larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the family Passifloraceae, which includes the passion vines and passionflowers. Their favorite seems to be the succulent Adenia, known for its poisonous sap and wine bottle-shaped swollen stems. The fleshy larvae are primarily gray, are sparsely covered with spines, and feature a prominent black horned mask. The cruiser pupa maintains the subdued coloration of the caterpillar. The chrysalis can easily pass as a leaf skeleton due to its lengthy and curiously shaped appendages that correspond to a decaying leaf's ribs or veins.
Local populations of cruiser butterflies, particularly on smaller islands, are strained. Collection pressures accompanied by human encroachment, pesticide use, and habitat destruction have been a heavy burden on the butterfly species. Historic and modern wars have also taken their toll on the lepidopterans. An optimistic sign for the cruiser butterfly does exist, however. The species is often touted in ecotourism advertisements for butterfly watching safaris in India, Southeast Asia and the Malaysian Archipelago, and is featured at many educational butterfly conservatories in North America and Europe.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Brightfield Illumination Wing Scale Array - This high magnification of a cruiser butterfly's wing scales clearly displays their scalloped edges. Brightfield illumination also provides detail regarding the overlapping pattern of the scales.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Darkfield Illumination Wing Scale Interference Patterns - In this darkfield image, numerous striations appear on each tiny scale. The phenomenon is caused by illumination interference.
Fur on Wing - This image is a beautiful example of the fur that covers the wings of cruiser butterflies. The straw-like fur is so abundant that it veils a large number of wing scales.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Oblique Illumination Wing Scales and Fur - Numerous overlapping scales and a covering of fur can be seen in this oblique light image of a cruiser butterfly's wing. Although they appear delicate, the wings of the species are strong enough for them to soar to great heights.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/butterfly/cruiserb3.html
A colourful addition to Thala’s wildlife, the Cruiser Butterfly is a conspicuous resident that swoops and flutters amidst the local vegetation. It’s a member of the Nymphalidae family, also known as the four-footed butterflies, which comprise about 5,000 butterflies distributed throughout the world.
Found from Malaku through to mainland Guinea and northern Queensland, this orange and graceful cruiser has a wingspan of approximately 8cm. It also possesses several curious characteristics unique to its species.
The female Cruiser Butterfly is much more elusive than the male, and has different markings on its body. Contained on the upper side of its forewings are dark tips, while the centre contains a broad white band that runs down to the edge of its hindwing, where lie two small eye spots.
The male, by comparison, has a bright orange-yellow upper side and a forewing that’s brown at the base with black markings. Males also appear to establish their territory by standing ground on a leaf during full sunlight. The marked difference in appearance of the male and female Cruiser Butterfly make it a sexually dimorphic species.
The eggs of the Cruiser Butterfly are laid on plants such as native passion vines (something to ponder during a tropical breakfast), while the food of adult cruisers consist of nectar from a range of flowers.
One of Thala’s more splendid looking residents, the Cruiser Butterfly appears most abundant just after the wet season.
http://www.thalabeach.com.au/cruiser-butterfly/
Introduction
The gorgeously coloured Cruiser is one of the most familiar species in the Oriental region, but it is only the male which has the dazzling orange wings - like all members of the genus Vindula this species is sexually dimorphic. The females are similar to the bright orange males in pattern, but have a grey ground colour, and a broad white post-median band extending across both wings. The genus comprises of 4 species, erota, arsinoe, dejone and sapor. The latter is endemic to the Solomon Islands and Bougainville. The others have a much wider distribution - erota and dejone being found across much of the Oriental region, and arsinoe on Papua New Guinea and in north-eastern Australia.
Habitats
In Malaysia this butterfly is found in primary rainforest at elevations between sea level and about 500m. It can sometimes be found in light gaps deep within the forest, but is very much a sun-loving species and generally keeps to forest edge habitats e.g. riverbanks, roads and village gardens.
Lifecycle
The eggs are barrel-shaped and ribbed, and vary in colour from straw-coloured to a dirty mottled brown. They are laid at various angles in a row, along a thin tendril of a Passiflora or Adenia vine. The caterpillar when fully grown is blackish, with grey patches along the sides, and a pale greenish broken line along the back. The head has a pair of long tentacle-like horns, and each segment is armed with dorsal and lateral spines. The chrysalis is one of the most amazing examples of camouflage in the butterfly world, looking exactly like a piece of dead, dry, twisted, half-decomposed leaf, and according to one's beliefs, is either one of evolutions finest adaptations or one of God's most amazing creations. It is a dirty pale brown color, marked on the dorsal surface with numerous fine dark lines patterned like the minor veins and capillaries on a dead leaf. A dark lateral line extends from the tail, looping around the wing cases, which are dark greyish brown, with the veins picked out in blackish. The dorsal surface carries a pair of large flat protuberances shaped like bits of broken twisted leaf. A remarkable object to say the very least.
Adult behavior
Males are usually seen in one's and two's imbibing moisture on sandbanks in full sunshine. They also feed at carrion and rotting fruit. At these times they usually keep their wings outspread, but in particularly hot conditions they will hold them erect. They are not usually nervous, and can be approached quite closely, but if deliberately disturbed they fly off rapidly and do not generally return to resume feeding. Females are seen much less commonly, but can sometimes be found nectaring on flowering bushes including Lantana, Ixora and Rhododendron.
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Malaysia%20-%20Vindula%20dejone.htm
The cruiser butterfly is a medium-sized lepidopteran in the family Nymphalidae, which includes the emperor, admiral, tortoiseshell, and fritillary butterflies. Members of the species have a highly modified front pair of legs and possess wingspans 70 to 100 millimeters wide. The wing upper sides of female cruisers are colored a burnt orange and black. Males, however, tend to be lighter and more yellow. Cruiser butterflies are scientifically known asVindula erota, but are commonly called banded treebrown butterflies in Thailand. The name stems from the cryptic undersides of their wings, which are brown and offer camouflage in dried foliage.
Cruiser larvae feed on the leaves of plants in the family Passifloraceae, which includes the passion vines and passionflowers. Their favorite seems to be the succulent Adenia, known for its poisonous sap and wine bottle-shaped swollen stems. The fleshy larvae are primarily gray, are sparsely covered with spines, and feature a prominent black horned mask. The cruiser pupa maintains the subdued coloration of the caterpillar. The chrysalis can easily pass as a leaf skeleton due to its lengthy and curiously shaped appendages that correspond to a decaying leaf's ribs or veins.
Local populations of cruiser butterflies, particularly on smaller islands, are strained. Collection pressures accompanied by human encroachment, pesticide use, and habitat destruction have been a heavy burden on the butterfly species. Historic and modern wars have also taken their toll on the lepidopterans. An optimistic sign for the cruiser butterfly does exist, however. The species is often touted in ecotourism advertisements for butterfly watching safaris in India, Southeast Asia and the Malaysian Archipelago, and is featured at many educational butterfly conservatories in North America and Europe.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Brightfield Illumination Wing Scale Array - This high magnification of a cruiser butterfly's wing scales clearly displays their scalloped edges. Brightfield illumination also provides detail regarding the overlapping pattern of the scales.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Darkfield Illumination Wing Scale Interference Patterns - In this darkfield image, numerous striations appear on each tiny scale. The phenomenon is caused by illumination interference.
Fur on Wing - This image is a beautiful example of the fur that covers the wings of cruiser butterflies. The straw-like fur is so abundant that it veils a large number of wing scales.
Cruiser Butterfly Images in Oblique Illumination Wing Scales and Fur - Numerous overlapping scales and a covering of fur can be seen in this oblique light image of a cruiser butterfly's wing. Although they appear delicate, the wings of the species are strong enough for them to soar to great heights.
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/butterfly/cruiserb3.html
A colourful addition to Thala’s wildlife, the Cruiser Butterfly is a conspicuous resident that swoops and flutters amidst the local vegetation. It’s a member of the Nymphalidae family, also known as the four-footed butterflies, which comprise about 5,000 butterflies distributed throughout the world.
Found from Malaku through to mainland Guinea and northern Queensland, this orange and graceful cruiser has a wingspan of approximately 8cm. It also possesses several curious characteristics unique to its species.
The female Cruiser Butterfly is much more elusive than the male, and has different markings on its body. Contained on the upper side of its forewings are dark tips, while the centre contains a broad white band that runs down to the edge of its hindwing, where lie two small eye spots.
The male, by comparison, has a bright orange-yellow upper side and a forewing that’s brown at the base with black markings. Males also appear to establish their territory by standing ground on a leaf during full sunlight. The marked difference in appearance of the male and female Cruiser Butterfly make it a sexually dimorphic species.
The eggs of the Cruiser Butterfly are laid on plants such as native passion vines (something to ponder during a tropical breakfast), while the food of adult cruisers consist of nectar from a range of flowers.
One of Thala’s more splendid looking residents, the Cruiser Butterfly appears most abundant just after the wet season.
http://www.thalabeach.com.au/cruiser-butterfly/
Introduction
The gorgeously coloured Cruiser is one of the most familiar species in the Oriental region, but it is only the male which has the dazzling orange wings - like all members of the genus Vindula this species is sexually dimorphic. The females are similar to the bright orange males in pattern, but have a grey ground colour, and a broad white post-median band extending across both wings. The genus comprises of 4 species, erota, arsinoe, dejone and sapor. The latter is endemic to the Solomon Islands and Bougainville. The others have a much wider distribution - erota and dejone being found across much of the Oriental region, and arsinoe on Papua New Guinea and in north-eastern Australia.
Habitats
In Malaysia this butterfly is found in primary rainforest at elevations between sea level and about 500m. It can sometimes be found in light gaps deep within the forest, but is very much a sun-loving species and generally keeps to forest edge habitats e.g. riverbanks, roads and village gardens.
Lifecycle
The eggs are barrel-shaped and ribbed, and vary in colour from straw-coloured to a dirty mottled brown. They are laid at various angles in a row, along a thin tendril of a Passiflora or Adenia vine. The caterpillar when fully grown is blackish, with grey patches along the sides, and a pale greenish broken line along the back. The head has a pair of long tentacle-like horns, and each segment is armed with dorsal and lateral spines. The chrysalis is one of the most amazing examples of camouflage in the butterfly world, looking exactly like a piece of dead, dry, twisted, half-decomposed leaf, and according to one's beliefs, is either one of evolutions finest adaptations or one of God's most amazing creations. It is a dirty pale brown color, marked on the dorsal surface with numerous fine dark lines patterned like the minor veins and capillaries on a dead leaf. A dark lateral line extends from the tail, looping around the wing cases, which are dark greyish brown, with the veins picked out in blackish. The dorsal surface carries a pair of large flat protuberances shaped like bits of broken twisted leaf. A remarkable object to say the very least.
Adult behavior
Males are usually seen in one's and two's imbibing moisture on sandbanks in full sunshine. They also feed at carrion and rotting fruit. At these times they usually keep their wings outspread, but in particularly hot conditions they will hold them erect. They are not usually nervous, and can be approached quite closely, but if deliberately disturbed they fly off rapidly and do not generally return to resume feeding. Females are seen much less commonly, but can sometimes be found nectaring on flowering bushes including Lantana, Ixora and Rhododendron.
http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Malaysia%20-%20Vindula%20dejone.htm