Southern Birdwing Butterfly (Troides minos)

Southern Birdwing Butterfly (Troides minos)
Garuda Salabham (in Malayalam)

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the biggest butterfly in the world is Queen Alaxandra’s Birdwing Butterfly

The Southern Birdwing (Troides minos) is a large and striking Swallowtail butterfly found in southern India. The wingspan being larger than those of small birds, hence the name: "birdwing".
It was earlier considered a subspecies of the Common Birdwing (Troides helena) but is now recognised as a valid species.
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Habitat :Southern India. Bombay to Travancore

               Found up to 3000 feet in the Western Ghats

My Observations

  

19-5-2003 –9.00 AM- The pupa collected from Edana(in Malayalam) plant and kept in the room is seen hatched –It is Southern Birdwing Butterfly

 

Caterpillar: Fatty body, black or dark brown in colour, having spine-like thing throughout the body which is having orange colour at the edge. In this one spine is white in colour and orange at the edge. One white line across the body in the middle.

04-06-2003- One pupa is collected from a Lea Plant . There is lot of Thottea plant around this area. May be the caterpillar mounted over lea only for pupating

HOST PLANT

Aristolochia indica  -Indian birthworth 

Garudakodi (in Malayalam)

Kingdom : Plantae

Order       : Piperales

Family      : Aristolochiaceae

Genus      : Aristolochia

Aristolochia means “excellent birth” and refers to the traditional use of the fresh juice to induce labour. Root was used mainly in childbirth. In England, it was known as birthwort and used for this purpose.

Aristolochia tagala - Indian birthwort 
Valiya arayan (in Malayalam)

Kingdom – Plantae

Order       -  Piperales

Family     - Aristolochiaceae

Genus      - Aristolochia

In India, the roots are considered a tonic, carminative and emmenagogue

Thottea siliquosa (Lam.) Ding Hou   

Alpam ( in Malayalam)

Family      : Aristolochiaceae 

subfamily : Aristolochioideae

Genus      : Thottea

Acknowledgement: Dr. K.K.Sabu and Dr.E.S.Santhoshkumar of TBGRI, Thiruvananthapuram