Hypolimnas bolina, the great eggfly, common eggfly,varied eggfly or blue moon butterfly is a species of nymphalidae.
Blue moon male : CUBE Homelab ,Cherukkad,Kozhikode.
(Nymphalidae - Wikipedia) butterfly .(Wikipedia ).
The lifecycle comprises eggs, caterpillar, pupa, and adult stages.
After about four days, the eggs hatch.
The head bears a pair of long, branched black horns. The body surface is also covered with long, branched, orangish-black spines
Hypolimnas bolina - Wikipedia.
I have not observed the eggs of the Blue Moon butterfly; instead, I collected the caterpillar of the Blue Moon from my homelab.
UC1 caterpillar emerges with Bluemoon Male,September 2022
Check the following links for more photoes and videos :
UC2 caterpillar emerges with Bluemoon female .
UC2 butterfly
UC2 Butterfly Waving its wings .
Place:Cherukkad,Kozhikode .
Date:8/10/2022
Theertha.
UC2 butterfly
UC2 Butterfly Waving its wings .
Place:Cherukkad,Kozhikode .
Date:8/10/2022
Theertha.
I observed the lifecycle of the Blue Moon butterfly on a plant named Ruellia prostrata, which belongs to the family Acanthaceae.
Bell Weed is a prostrate perennial herb, with stems often rooting at the nodes. Ovate green leaves, 2-10 cm long. Leaf stalk is 5-30 mm long. Flowers occur solitary in the leaf axils, Sepals 5, linear, 6-10 mm long. Flowers are violet blue to occasionally nearly white, 2.4-3.2 cm long, the petals slightly spreading. Capsules club-shaped, 1.5-2 cm long, densely covered with fine hairs.
Ruellia prostrata - Bell Weed.
Identification of plant in my Homelab .
Ruellia prostrata is a known larval host plant for two butterflies:
Zizula hylax – Tiny Grass Blue
Junonia iphita – Chocolate Pansy
I observed the complete lifecycle of the Blue Moon butterfly, both male and female, in Ruellia prostrata.
I have two sets of observations: one from September 2022 and the other from September 2023.
The interesting part is that yesterday, I came across a caterpillar from the same plant, Ruellia prostrata.
When I compared this recent data with the previous data something striking:
1)Both caterpillars were found on Ruellia prostrata.
2)I collected both caterpillars in the month of September from my homeland, and yesterday, I encountered the same type of caterpillar again. Today, it has entered the pupal stage.
Place :Cherukkad,Kozhikode .
Date:14/09/2023
Time :10.30pm
Theertha
Place :Cherukkad,Kozhikode .
Date:15/09/2023
Time :10am
Theertha
The intersting thing about blue moon butterfly is that the female of blue moon mimicking common crow .
Common crow laying eggs on Ficus plant .
Place :Balussery ,Kozhikode .
Time :10am
Date:23/08/2023
Theertha
Video showing male & female Blue moon butterfly ,sorry for the less clear video .
Place :Cherukkad ,Kozhikode .
Time :4pm
Date:9/08/2023
Theertha
