King Crow (Euploea phaenareta)
Image Copyright Loukpud Shinkhem
Image Copyright Loukpud Shinkhem
2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: Loukpud Shunkhem,
The King Crow is a butterfly with an amazing life cycle. It’s appearance changes constantly through its caterpillar stage culminating in the weird and striking final stage pictured.
Then the caterpillar turns into a pupa of a striking shiny gold colour.
And so when it emerges as a butterfly it is… brown-winged with white spots – a very respectable looking insect but not quite as bright as you would have expected.
There’s an excellent write up below.
King Crow Life History at Butterflycircle
A note on Instars
I keep reading about instars in relation to insect growth. Here’s what they are. Insects develop through a series of stages known as instars. Each instar usually culminates in the shedding of a layer of skin, and often, as in the case of the King Crow – by very dramatic changes in appearance.
