DOBSONFLY

Common Name: Dobsonfly
Scientific Name: Corydalus sp.

 Kingdom:       Animalia

Phylum:          Arthropoda

Subphylum:    Hexapoda

Class:             Insecta

Subclass:       Pterygota

Infraclass:       Neoptera

Superorder:   Endopterygota or Neuropterida

Order:             Megaloptera

Family:           Corydalidae

Subfamily:      Corydalinae

Dobsonflies spend most of their life in the larval stage, during which they are called hellgrammites

After a few years of living and growing underwater, the larvae crawl out onto land and pupate. They stay in their cocoons over the winter and emerge only to mate. Upon emerging, they live for only seven days. While not generally believed to eat during their adult stage

MY OBSERVATIONS

09-03-1993 – Location : Palode, Thiruvananthapuram

Eyes        : Compound eyes, light green tint

Legs         : Small white hairs in legs and in the body

                     Thorn-like parts at the end of the legs

Wings      : Transparent, Brown in colour, with veins, Hard as dragonfly. When at rest, wings are held flat over the back and extend beyond the abdomen

Very slow speed in flight. Flying sound is like dragonfly

BLUE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY (Kaniska canace)

MY OBSERVATIONS

09-07-1993 – Collected and pupa from a hard stemmed plant. Sways very fast when touched.

Pupa is coloured from hard brown to light brown. Having glod and spots and silver patches.

12-07-1993 – Emerging in the morning may be between 9 and 10

                           One side of the wings are coloured like tree bark

Brown Antenna.

                           Yellow legs.

BLUE ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY (Kaniska canace)

“Neelaraajan” (in Malayalam)

Kingdom:            Animalia

Phylum:               Arthropoda

Class:                  Insecta

Order:                  Lepidoptera

Family:                Nymphalidae

Subfamily:           Nymphalinae

Tribe:                   Nymphalini

Genus:                Kaniska (Moore, 1899)

Species:             K. canace

TIGER WASP

MY OBSERVATIONS

20-08-1992 – In a Euphorbia plant the wasp is making nest with mud from a nearby stream. There are three separate rooms. First three rooms are made and then the whole are again covered with another layer of mud.

14-09-1992 – One small wasp emerged at night through a hole made in the upper side of the walls

15-09-1992 – Another two emerged.

20-09-1992 – The nest is dissected. Inside the two mud covering there is another covering with                                         thermocol-like material 

Green Moth

MY OBSERVATIONS

CATERPILLAR

Hairs are reddish brown in colour

04-7-1993 – Pupate in a twig.It made its cocoon with its brown hairs in very finishing
 We can see Glazed dark brown cover of the pupa through the hairs

22-7-1993 – Emerged in the morning.  Emerging by breaking the backside of the outer cover

                       Legs are fully covered by hairs and leaf green in colour
                       Antenne, very light brown in colour.
                       Wings, leaf colour and having leaf-like vein structures

IT TAKES 18 DAYS FROM THE NEXT DAY OF PUPATION TO BECOME AN ADULT

STICK INSECT

STICK INSECT

Kingdom:      Animalia

Phylum:          Arthropoda

Class:            Insecta

Subclass:      Pterygota

Infraclass:      Neoptera

Superorder:  Exopterygota

Order:            Phasmatodea

There are in excess of 3,000 described species

Segmented Antenna

Front leg was stretched towards front very close to the antenna when resting

Vanes in the wings were prominently seen

Male was small compared with female in length and size and some more dark in colour

Mating takes hours (May be 6or more hours)

Female can fly while mating

The  stick insect and leaf insect (order: Phasmida) are almost confined to the tropics and subtropics. Most of them are fairly large. They always live and feed among vegetation and are protected by their resemblance to the surroundings, this their name. They are very difficult to see when they are resting among twigs and branches. Stick insects feed at night

MY OBSERVATIONS

04-10-1991 – Eggs seen in a thin dry twig

                        Eggs are brown in colour with white covering except in top

08-10-1991 – Hatchlings emerged from eggs at 9.00 PM

                        Dark Orange in colour. Antennae are prominent and having a length equal to the body. Black eyes

                        Tail end of the body was curved upwards

CRIMSON ROSE BUTTERFLY - Atrophaneura (Pachliopta) hector

CRIMSON ROSE BUTTERFLY

Atrophaneura (Pachliopta) hector (Linnaeus, 1758)
"Chakkara Rose" (in Malayalam)

Kingdom:      Animalia

Phylum:         Arthropoda

Class:            Insecta

Order:            Lepidoptera

Family:          Papilionidae

Subfamily:     Papilioninae

Genus:          Atrophaneura

Subgenus:    (Pachliopta)

Species:       A. (P.) hector

It is a large swallowtail butterfly,common in Western Ghats. Male upper side black. Fore wing with a broad white interrupted band. Hind wing with a diseal posteriory strongly curved with series of crimson spots.

HOST PLANT - Murraya koenigii (L.) Sprengel

curry tree [Malayalam: കറിവേപ്പില]

Order:          Sapindales

Family:         Rutaceae

Genus:         Murraya

Species:      M. koenigii

MY OBSERVATIONS

23-9-1989 – Caterpillar observed in murraya plant having 5cm in length shriked

24-9-1989 – The shrinked caterpillar transformed into pupa

05-101989 – Emerged out as a butterfly

EMERGING OUT IN THE MORNING BETWEEN 7.30 AND 8.00 ON THE 11^TH DAY FROM THE NEXT DAY OF PUPATION

Praying mantis egg

MY OBSERVATIONS

15-11-2010 - Seen in the bark of a large tree.

On close observation it is seen that the egg was eaten by ants. So it is collected.

The egg case is dissected.

Inside the egg there is some decayed body of the young ones

Green glittering bugs

Colour : Glittering  yellowish green with black spots
HOST PLANT

Species:            Jatropha podagrica

Kingdom:          Plantae

Division:            Magnoliophyta

Class:                Magnoliopsida

Order:                Euphorbiales

Family:               Euphorbiaceae

Genus:               Jatropha

It is native to the tropical Americas (Origin : Guatemala) but it is propagated as an ornamental plant in many parts of the world. The plant bears bright red coral-like flowers throughout the year. The plant contains the toxic curcin (a phytotoxin (toxalbumin), found mainly in the seeds and   also in the fruit and sap.), making it poisonous.

Fruit: is  small capsule-like, round; about 2.5 -  4 cm (1-1.5inches) in diameter.  These are green and fleshy when immature,becoming dark  brown when ripe and splitting to release 2 or 3  black seeds 

MY OBSERVATIONS

        8-11-2010   -  Seen only in Jatropha podagrica plant.

       Very near to this plant there is Jatropha multifida plant also.

                                                Jatropha multifida
        But this bug is only seen in podagrica  plant

       Also the bug is seen  in fruits

       Bugs in different stages are seen

Blue Tiger Moth (Dysphania percota)

MY OBSERVATIONS

 24-07-1990 - Akkulam, Thiruvananthapuram

CATERPILLAR

Orange in colour with dark blue patches

Black spots in the blue patches

Usually stands in the twig using the suckers in the hind portion

Caterpillar will clasp with its front legs and draw up the hind end, then clasp with the hind end (prolegs) and reach out for a new front attachment

HOST PLANT

           Carallia brachiata “Vallabham” in Malayalam

FAMILY          Rhizophoraceae

Species          Carallia brachiata

PUPA

           Pupating by rolling the leaf in the afternoon

           The leaves are pasted with webs brown in colour

           Orange in colour

3 cm length, 1 cm width in the middle

Face looks like monkey

ADULT

Emerging at night around 10.00 PM

            It is a day flying moth

GENERAL

    Kingdom:       Animalia

Phylum:          Arthropoda

Class:            Insecta

Order:            Lepidoptera

Family:           Geometridae

Subfamily:     Geometrinae

Tribe:             Dysphaniini

Genus:           Dysphania

    Species:       D. percota

Natural Death of moth

After a heavy rain yesterday(6-10-2010), this moth was found dead in a drainage in Palode, Kerala