I grow Bryophullum ( a section within the genus Kalanchoe) in my balcony, which helps to cure kidney stones. I often spotted maggot-like larvae in the leaves, eating away the fleshy part and filling it with poop. Ughh! I plucked those leaves and chucked them away in the bushes thinking they can feed on the plentiful leaves there. I had been such an idiot! The larvae eat only specific leaves- their host plant. This spring, while I was surfing the internet for Species of butterflies found in Karnataka, I found images of these larvae. It was the Larvae of the Red Pierrot! I decided that next time I won't throw them away. In the Monsoon season this year, I spotted the red pierrots stopping by and walking on my Bryophyllum plant...Yes! It was laying eggs. Check out the video, which summarizes the life cycle visually.
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Description:
The Red Pierrot butterfly is a small but beautiful butterfly with a white, orange, and black pattern on its wings. It is found in India and other parts of South Asia and belongs to the lyncaenids or blue family. The larva feeds on Kalanchoe( host plant). In Southern India, it usually lays eggs during the monsoon season.
Scientific name:
Talicada nyseus
Egg stage:
It lays eggs on the underside of the leaves.
The eggs are white and less than a millimeter in diameter.
The larvae hatch after 3-4 days, known as the incubation period. After hatching, the larva bores into the leaf. It doesn't eat its own eggshell, unlike most butterfly larvae do.
The larva bored into the leaf near the eggshell.
Larval Stage:
The Larva bore into the leaf after hatching and feed on the mesophyll layer- the layer between the "skin" of the thick leaves.
The larva bores into the Bryophyllum leaf.
It is initially pale yellow in color. It grows rapidly and eventually turns pink. The larva has fine hair on its body with tiny black spots on the side.
The yellow larva is a few millimeters long.
It grows very rapidly over multiple instars.
It eats the leave completely, reducing it to a sack of excreta.
If it runs out of leaves, it will bore into the stem.
Larva Bores into another leaf
The Larva turns Pink in the later stages.
It searches for an ideal location to make the chrysalis.
The larval stage lasts for 16 to 18 days, after which it comes out of the leaf and sits under it or in a groove like the sides of a mud pot.
The larva stays in this position for few days and changes color.
Pupa Stage:
The larva stays in a suitable place and builds a fine silk pad and a thread to hold it in position. The Color of the larva turns from pink to yellow. The main blood vessel can be seen on the back of the larva rhythmically pumping blood. The Pupal stage lasts for a week.
In the first 2-3 days, it gets black spots on the pupa.
The pupa gets black spots.
More Pupae!
By the 4th or 5th-day, eyes can be seen.
By the 5th or 6th day, the wings become prominent.
By the 6th or 7th day, it becomes black and will hatch on the following day.
Butterfly Stage:
The butterfly hatches in the morning and pumps its wings for 5 to 10 minutes. While pumping and even after pumping fluids into its wings, it excretes few drops of excess pink fluid. It takes another 20 minutes to dry its wings. Finally, it flaps its wings for the first time and takes off.
Around 30 eggs were laid on my plant, and from the last week of August, the butterflies started hatching from the pupae. It is truly a mesmerizing moment to watch it fly away to decorate the gardens.
