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Common Mormon
Papilio polytes
22.6132, 88.3639
Field Notes
Description:
Looks like bird dropping when freshly emerged and slowly grows into a green plump little caterpillar with a diadem on its head and black patches on the side.This one took almost a week to reach this stage (second photo). It lies openly on the leaf lamina when disguised like bird poo.Usually aligns horizontally when green and is almost impossible to spot because it remains motionless against the greenery. But its own poo gives it away as does the defoliated appearance of the curry leaf plant.
Habitat:
Curry leaf plant or in Murraya koenigii my garden. Surprisngly there is only one caterpillar on this plant but many more on the citrus Kinoo plant.
Notes:
Can also turn out to be Papilio demoleus or the Lime butterfly. I can NEVER differentiate between the two.
Technically these should have been separate spottings although it is the same caterpillar but I would like to document its life cycle.
Good read
https://the-urban-gardener.blogspot.com/2010/10/butterfly-farmer.html
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