#red lacewing

Wonderful findings at the Botanical Gardens the other day ♥

These plump caterpillars are the larva of Cethosia cydippe, The Red lacewing Butterfly. Outside the gardens, growing on a fence, are both Aristolochia and Adenia vines. When Caterpillar season comes, you can find a variety of different butterfly caterpillars there.

It’s my favorite place,,

Red Lacewing (Cethosia biblis)

Lepidoptera study - 29/12/20 - Cethosia cydippe, “Red Lacewing” Superfamily Papilionoidea; Family Nymphalidae; Subfamily Heliconiinae

The caterpillars and chrysalis can be found in the source below. The caterpillars are basically just spikey monarchs.

The caterpillars feed on various vines from the Passifloraceae “Passionfruit” family:

Adenia heterophylla “Lacewing Vine”

Passiflora aurantioides “Queensland Passionfruit”

Outside Australia this species is found in:

Java

New Guinea

Cethosia Biblis, The Red Lacewing

A red lacewing butterfly mounted in a double-glass frame. This butterfly was purchased from a specialist store who guarantees the ethical acquisition of their specimens. This particular butterfly died a natural death in a butterfly garden before being prepped, mounted, and sold. Other red lacewings would have been released into the wild to bolster numbers of the species.