Cethosia penthesilea (Cramer, 1777)
Orange Lacewing
 (one synonym: Eugramma paksha)
HELICONIINAE,   NYMPHALIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Cethosia penthesilea
(Photo: courtesy of Garry Sankowsky, Tolga, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are brown with some white patches, including a totally white segment in the middle of the abdomen. The caterpillars are covered in black spiky hairs. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 3 cms.

Cethosia penthesilea
(Photo: courtesy of Garry Sankowsky, Tolga, Queensland)

The caterpillars feed on the leaves, fruit, and stems of :

  • Lacewing Vine ( Adenia heterophylla, PASSIFLORACEAE ).

    Cethosia penthesilea
    (Photo: courtesy of Garry Sankowsky, Tolga, Queensland)

    The pupa is brown and spiky, with white marks and gold spots. It hangs head downward from a cremaster. Its length is about 3 cms.

    Cethosia penthesilea

    The adult butterflies which have forewings that on top are orange, with a large black area on each wing tip containing a white band and a row of white spots. The upper surface of each hind wing is orange with a broad black border.

    Cethosia penthesilea
    (Specimen: courtesy Butterfly House, Coffs Harbour)

    Underneath, both wings are brown with white bands bordered by rows of black spots. The adults have a wingspan up to 7 cms.

    Cethosia penthesilea
    (Specimen: courtesy Butterfly House, Coffs Harbour)

    The eggs of this species are laid typically in clusters around a stem of the food plant. They are cylindrical and ribbed, and coloured pale yellow. They are about 1 millimetre in height.

    The species occurs as various subspecies in south-east Asia, including

  • Bali,
  • Malaysia,
  • Singapore,
  • Sumatra,
  • Thailand,

    and the subspecies paksha Fruhstorfer, 1905, has been found in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and rarely in
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria, and
  • Western Australia,

    Cethosia penthesilea
    Thailand 1978

    This is a featured species at the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House.

    Further reading :

    Dennis Bell,
    Observations on the life history and larval host plants of the Orange Lacewing Cethosia penthesilea paksha (Fruhstorfer, 1905),
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 101 (June 2021), pp. 17-20.

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 538-539.

    Pieter Cramer,
    Description de Papillons Exotiques,
    Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, vol. 2 (1777), p. 78, figs. B, C, and also Plate 145, figs. B, C.

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    (updated 4 December 2009, 12 September 2025)