Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Paper Kite
Idea leuconoe
ERICHSON, 1834
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
DANAINAE
Tribe - DANAINI
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Idea leuconoe,
Penang, West Malaysia
© Fiona Le maitre |
Introduction
The
subfamily Danainae, which includes the Monarchs, Tigers, Crows and Tree
Nymphs,
comprises of about 190 species worldwide.
All
Danaines are thought to be distasteful to birds. Their bodies contain toxins
which are derived from the lactiferous larval foodplants,
and are often supplemented by further toxins sequestered from adult food sources.
The
bright wing patterns "advertise" these unpalatable qualities, in much the same way that the bands of yellow and black of wasps
advertise the fact that they can sting. Consequently any bird that suffers the
highly unpleasant experience of tasting a Danaine
is unlikely to attack other similarly coloured butterflies. Effectively, a few
individuals are sacrificed for the good of the species as a whole.
There are 12 Idea species, of
which 5 occur in West Malaysia i.e. hypermnestra,
leuconoe, lynceus,
iasonia and stolli.
The other 7 species are found variously in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, the
Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi, Irian and Papua New Guinea.
Tree Nymphs are
very large butterflies, characterised by having translucent white wings
patterned with black veins, and numerous oval black spots. They are
noted for their slow and very graceful flight, which gives them the appearance
of white handkerchiefs floating gently on the breeze.
Idea leuconoe occurs
in West Malaysia, and possibly on Taiwan and the Philippines, although there is
some confusion among taxonomists about whether the non-Malaysian forms are
subspecies of leuconoe, or of another species.
Habitats
This is a relatively common species occurring in coastal mangrove forest and
lowland
rainforest at altitudes between sea level and about 400m.
Lifecycle
To be completed.
Adult behaviour
These beautiful insects, known variously as Tree Nymphs, Paper
Kites, and Rice Paper butterflies, have a very slow and extraordinarily graceful flight.
It might appear therefore that they would easily fall victim to
avian predators, but like all Danaines
Idea are poisonous or highly
unpalateable to birds and are not often attacked. The slow flight
is their way of advertising the very distinctive pattern, which
birds, through past experience, associate with a very unpleasant
taste.
In sunny conditions males usually rest with the wings erect or
partly open, ready to take flight to intercept potential mates. In
cool or cloudy weather they are more relaxed and can
sometimes be found feeding at flowers at the side of roads. When feeding they tend to slowly flutter or fan
their wings, but when settled on foliage they will bask with wings
fully outspread.
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