larval web plus winter (black) pupae
(Photo: courtesy of Clive Oatley, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria)

The gregarious Caterpillars spin a silken web on their foodplant. They grow to a length of 4 cms.

summer (orange) pupa
(Photo: courtesy of Stewart Newman)

The caterpillars pupate in a group in their web. The pupae range in colour from orange in summer to black in winter. The pupae have a small forked appendage at the head end. The orange pupae have a black dorsal line on the thorax, and a number of black spikes including one on the back of each abdominal segment.

(Photo: courtesy of Clive Oatley, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria)

The butterflies have a wingspan of up to 7 cm. The upper surfaces of the wings are a dirty white with wide black margins. The forewing tips each contain an arc of white spots. The females are greyer than the males and have a green tinge, and the black margins are wider.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Clive Oatley, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria)

The undersides are white, red, yellow, and black.

eggs, magnified
(Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Molesworth, Victoria)

The eggs are laid in clusters of about 100 on the upper surface of a foodplant leaf. The eggs are yellow and bottle shaped with a dozen or so ribs, and a height of about 1.2 mm.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The species occurs in the south-eastern quarter of continental Australia, including

underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 334-336.

Michael F. Braby,
Inland breeding records for two mistletoe butterflies (Lepidoptera) from northern Victoria,
Australian Entomologist, Volume 32 (2005), Part 4, pp. 161-162.

Edward Donovan,
General Illustration of Entomology,
An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite and other Islands in the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans.
Volume 1 (1805), p. 89, and also Plate on p. 88.

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(updated 6 June 2007, 29 December 2023)