I was quite delighted when I found that these are the pupae of Painted Jezebels (Delias hyperete metarete) ! ! ! Among the singapore butterflies this species seems to be the only one that has yellow-coloured pupae =)
Not long after, there was indeed Painted Jezebel emerging from the pupa! !!
Wait a minute.... Painted Jezebel larvae feed on mistletoes, don't they? How can they appear on Limau trees??? It was not until then I realized the limau tree was in fact heavily parasitized by mistletoe plants, with part of the branches completely without limau leaves.
There were also quite a lot of mistletoe plants on some other plants in Raffles Hall such as those on Chiku trees in Raffles Hall, as depicted below.
As mistletoe plants produce sticky seeds, the seeds stick on the anus opening of the birds such as scarlett-backed flowerpecker (Dicaeum cruentatum), causing the birds to rub their buttock against the stem of other plants. By this they disperse widely. Luckily there are balance in nature; the painted jezebels larvae feed on these plants ravenously.
Now come on! How do you say this stuff without giggling? I mean really! Scarlett-backed flowerpecker rubbing its buttocks against a stem to deposit sticky seeds. Your description is colorful, I'm sure it is accurate, and it also provides THE most silly mental image ever. WELL DONE.
ReplyDeleteshould try to italicize the scientific names.
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