Some biological and morphological characteristics of great mormon (papilio memmon linnaeus, 1758– papilionidae) in Hue city and adjacent areas

Abstract

Great Mormon (Papilio memnon Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the big-sized beautiful butterflies, and in spite of possessing wide distribution, they are rare in nature. This study was carried out from January 2018 to March 2019 in Hue City and the adjacent areas. The results show that the mature butterflies are relatively large (the forewing mean is 71.65 ± 0.59 mm). Female mature butterflies are in two morphologies: non-mimetic and mimetic female. Female butterflies are less numerous than male butterflies. The newly hatched larvae have a relatively rough morphology. The first instar larvae have an initial body length of 4.05 ± 0.15 mm; later, they become more slippery. The fifth instar larvae have an average body length of 54.90 ± 2.11 mm. The pupae have an average length of 39.27 ± 0.61 mm, pointed vertex, and parallel outer. The narrow top is divided into two horn-like structures by a spear-shaped space. Great Mormon larvae eat six plant species belonging to the Rutaceae family, namely Citrus au-rantifolia, C. grandis, C. sinensis, Clausena excavata, Zanthoxylum nitidum, and Atalantia buxifolia. Under the semi-natural culture conditions with the temperature of 27–40 °C (average 37.32 ± 0.27 °C) and relative humidity 70–98% (average 88.69 ± 0.48%), the caterpillars were fed on fresh pomelo leaves (Citrus grandis), and the mature individuals were cultured with several flowers including Ixora coccinea, Lantanacamara, and 50% diluted honey. The life cycle of the butterflies (from egg to mature butterfly) is 33–56 days (average of 49.8 ± 4.2 days).