The White Dragontail, Lamproptera curius, is a species of swallowtail

Swallowtail butterfly

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies that form the family Papilionidae. There are over 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica...

 native to parts of South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

 and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

. It belongs to the Dragontails genus, Lamproptera, of the Swallowtail (Papilionidae) family. It is not rare.

Description

Upperside dull brownish black.
Fore wing: a broad outwardly oblique white transverse band that crosses from a little beyond the basal third of the costal margin to the dorsum, its outer half hyaline, followed by a hyaline triangular area that does not reach the costa or the termen but is traversed by conspicuously black veins. Between the semihyaline transverse band and the hyaline area the black forms a more or less oven band slightly narrower in the middle; the black edging to the costa and termen broad, broadened towards the apex ; cilia black.

Hind wing: the transverse white band of the fore wing is continued straight across and ends in a point on the outer half of vein 3, but is not hyaline along its outer margin; posterior half of the wing dull dark brown, irrorated towards the base of the long narrow tail at vein 4 with white scales ; cilia black, white below vein 5 and along outer side of basal half of tail, the latter tipped white.

Underside similar, but the ground-colour opaque brownish black; a broad outwardly ill-defined earthy-grey streak along the base of the wings produced slightly down the dorsal margin of hind and along the costa of the fore wing; the oblique white band on the hind wing joined by a cross sinuous short white line from the dorsal margin to its apex; below this latter a number of irregular white spots on the tornal area. Antennae, head and thorax black, abdomen dark brownish black; beneath, the palpi, thorax and abdomen greyish; claws of the tarsi bifid. Male with sex-mark.

Distribution

The butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 is found in India from Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 to Burma. It is also found in Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Laos

Laos

Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Southern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Kampuchea, Malaysia, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Brunei

Brunei

Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

 and Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Status

The White Dragontail is not known to be threatened in most of its range but is considered Vulnerable and in need of protection in peninsular Malaysia.

Life history

The life cycle of the butterfly takes about six weeks.

Larva

In the early stages the larva is black over the thorax narrow above the prolegs, and broadening again at the tail end. The larva is smooth. The sides above the prolegs are yellow-ochre. A narrow border around the head and the anal segment yellow ochre. Initially the head is black. The larva in later instars becomes apple green, darker on the back, with three narrow yellow stripes on the seventh to tenth segments, and a buff line just above the legs from head to tail. The head is green with four round black spots on the crown, and two more smaller ones at the angle of the jaws.

Pupa

Under artificial rearing the pupation took place on the underside of the leaf. The pupa is attached by a white pad at the cremaster, and has a fine girdle. It is only 22mm and the colour varies from yellow-green on young growth, to emerald on mature leaves.