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Common Castor
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Nymphalidae Genus: Ariadne Species: A. merione
Binomial name
Ariadne merione (Cramer, 1777)
Synonyms
Ergolis merione

Ariadne merione, also known as the Common Castor, is an orange butterfly with brown lines whose larvae feed almost exclusively on Castor Ricinus communis.

This species is found in south-eastern Asia. Their wingspan ranges between 30-35mm. Like others in the Nymphalidae family, their front two legs are small and unused, effectively making them four-legged. These smaller appendages are covered with long hairs, giving them the characteristic brush look.

Contents 1 Description 1.1 Wet-season form 1.2 Dry-season form 2 Distribution 3 Life history 4 Larva 5 Pupa 6 References

Description

Wet-season form

Male: Upper side brownish ochraceous. Fore and hind wings crossed by slender, somewhat obscure, very sinuous or zigzag dark basal, two subbasal and two discal lines disposed in pairs, followed by a single, sometimes double, postdiscal and a single subterminal slender line. All these lines more or less interrupted anteriorly on the hind wing, which has a smooth unmarked uniform appearance from costa to subcostal vein and vein 5. On the fore wing there is in addition a series of obscure spots between the postdiscal and subterminal markings, arid a small white subcostal spot before the apex.

Underside much as in Ariadne ariadne, but the transverse chestnut bands broader, more diffuse. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brownish ochraceous. Sex-mark on the underside of the fore wing as in A. ariadne no sex-mark on upper side of hind wing; ¹

Female: Similar; but on the upperside the transverse lines broader, more diffuse, with a greater tendency to form bands; the postdiscal line always double, forming a band traversed by a series of dark ochraceous spots in the interspaces; these lines and bands continuous, not interrupted anteriorly on the hind wing as they are in the male. Underside: except for the sex-mark, as in the male.

Dry-season form

Upperside : ground-colour much paler, the transverse lines more distinctly in pairs, forming bands, the ground-colour between each pair more dusky brown. Underside similar to that in the wet-season form, but the ground-colour paler, the bands more diffuse.

Expanse: 52-62 mm

Distribution

All over India, Simla to Sikhim in the Himalayas, and recorded from Rajputana and Bengal; Assam; Burma; Tenasserim; Malayan Subregion. The Tenasserim specimens are darker and often without the white subcostal spot in the fore wing, approximating thus to the Southern Indian and Ceylon race.

Life history

Egg	Egg	Caterpillar	Chrysalis
Common Castor Mating	In Kolkata, West Bengal, India.	In Kolkata, West Bengal, India.	In Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India.	at Jayanti in Buxa Tiger Reserve in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India.

Larva

"Cylindrical, slender; segments armed with two dorsal and two lateral rows of short branched-spines; head with a pair of long, straight branched-spines. Colour green with dorsal longitudinal dark brown lines." (Moore) Caterpillars of the genus are protected from predators by their long spinous bristles. Their chrysalids are pale green and angular in shape.

Pupa

"Similar to that of A. ariadne." (Moore)

References

1. ^ Bingham, C. T. (1905) Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 1

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• This page was last modified on 16 June 2008, at 18:07.

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