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Common Eggfly Butterfly - Hypolimnas bolina nerina
FAMILY NYMPHALIDAE
This page contains information and pictures about Common Eggfly Butterflies in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Male, wingspan 80mm
- We took the above picture when the male Common Eggfly Butterfly defending its territory on a tree. Common Eggfly Butterfly male show very strong territory habit. Whenever there is any butterfly fly into its territory, it will chase away them aggressively. Then it will return back to the same spot. Although the wings of this butterfly were damaged quite heavily, it still able to fly very well.
- Male
- The male and female Common Eggfly Butterflies are markedly different. The above pictures show the male Common Eggfly Butterfly, black in colour with white spot surrounded with blue colour on each wing. Common Eggfly Butterfly is common in Brisbane. They are called Blue Moon Butterfly in New Zealand.
- Female
- The two pictures shows the top and side view of female Common Eggfly. Female and male are about the same size, or female sometimes a little bit larger, but the upper-size look markedly different. There are white and orange patterns on the top side of her wings. Their bottom views are looked the same.
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- Both female and male will open their wings when rest. The blue colour of the male wings will vary in different viewing angle.
- After sunset, the butterflies hide under leaves for the night.
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- Common Eggfly is common in Brisbane. In summer, they can be found along the walking path or forest edge in bush. The butterfly flies steadily but settles frequently. Male usually rest on the same spot 2 meters above ground protecting his territory.
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- Their caterpillars are black in colour with orange-yellow branch-spines, feed on Love Flower Pseuderanthemum variabile and several other different plants. They feed at night.
Territorial Habits of Common Eggfly
- Male butterflies are believed to look for their mate by eye-sight. Some species, such as the Australian Crow and Orchard Swallowtail, patrol the field in search of females. Some species, e.g. the Glasswing Butterfly and Dingy Swallowtail, are gathering around hill tops. Some other species, like the Common Eggfly that we are discussing here, take up and wait in good positions, such as the opening and clearings, where the females will pass by.
- In Wishart Outlook along the Bulimba Creek, there is a foot path good for jogging. There are gum trees, wattles and thick tall grasses on both sides of the path. From mid to late summer, we can always see many male Common Eggfly Butterflies along the path. Each male butterfly has his own territorial about thirty to forty meters apart. They usually rest on a leaf about one to two meters above ground. Any flying object come near by, the male butterfly will fly to it and check. If it is another Common Eggfly male. there will be a combat between them. They will chase each other and sometimes with body contact. The combat may last for a few minutes. Then one of the males will come back, usually the original territorial owner, sits back to where it rests before.
- Because of the their combat, broken wings males are quite common.
- On a hot summer afternoon, I walked along the footpath and stopped to watch a Common Eggfly Butterfly. I saw the male Common Eggfly resting on a tree, chasing for other flying objects as it usually did. Watching it for about five minutes, the butterfly disappeared. Carefully looking for it, from my shadow I found that the butterfly was resting on the top of my hat. It might think that my hat, where I was standing at the middle of the path, was a better place to guard his territorial. Chasing away other males a few times and he always came back to my hat. The above pictures was taken by putting my hat on a tripod.
- Reference and Link:
- 1. Butterflies of Australia and New Guinea - Barrett,
Charles and A. N. Burns, Melbourne, N. H. Seward, 1951, p118.
- 2. Hypolimnas bolina - Australian Caterpillars, Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossley, 2005.
- 2. Hypolimnas bolina - Australian Caterpillars, Don Herbison-Evans & Stella Crossley, 2005.
