The Palm King

Amathusia phidippus

Description

Amathusia phidippus males have brown upperwings with yellowish margins, while females have a paler wing color but with more yellow and contrasting edges. The underside of the wings is pale brown with a purple tinge, there are several white bands from the front to the rear. At the underside of the hind wings are two large brown ocellus with a white center.

Larva: Amathusia phidippus larvae are cylindrical, greenish yellow in color. At the 5th instar the caterpillar becomes more brown with a length of about 7 – 7.5 cm.

Pupa: The pupa of Amathusia phidippus is greenish in color with lines similar to the leaves of the host plant.

Population Size

-

Life Span

-

WEIGHT​

-

LENGTH

Wingspan from 100 – 120 mm.

Ar

Arboreal

He

Herbivore

Classification

KINGDOM

:

Animalia

PHYLUM

:

Arthropoda

CLASS

:

Insecta

ORDER

:

Lepidoptera

FAMILY

:

Nymphalidae

GENUS

:

Amathusia

SPECIES

:

Amathusia phidippus

Distribution

Amathusia phiduppus can be found in forests, mangrove forests, parks and other places where their host plants grow.

Geography

Continent : Asia

Country : Amathusia phidippus is distributed in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia (Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Java, Bali, Lombok).

Habits and Lifestyle

Amathusia phidippus flies at moderate speed, usually prefers shaded sub-forest habitats and tends to stay still for long periods of time. This species is crepuscular and very good at camouflage.

Lifestyle

Arboreal

Biome

Tropical rain forest

Climate Zone

Tropical

Diet and Nutrition

Amathusia phidippus larvae feed on coconut leaves (Cocos nucifera) or other plant members of the Palmaceae.

Diet : Herbivore (larva), Nectarivore

Mating Habits

Amathusia phidippus reproduces by laying eggs (oviparous), the eggs are laid in a row. The eggs are creamy white with a small black spot in the middle and black circular circles, before hatching the color of the eggs turns black. 

Reproduction session : –

Incubation periods: 6 – 7 days

Independent age : at birth

Baby name : –

Baby carrying : –

Population

Population status : Not Evaluated (NE)

NE

DD

LC

NT

VU

EN

CR

EW

EX

PHOTO GALLERY

Reference

  1. Khoon, S. 2010. A Field Guide to The Butterflies of Singapore. Ink On Paper Communications, Singapore.
  2. Amathusia phidippus on Wikipedia article 
  3. Butterfly of the month-The Palm King (Amathusia phidippus phidippus) article