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Australian Wildlife

  Common Crow Butterfly (Euploea core)





Common Crow Butterfly | Euploea core photo
female Common Crow butterfly

Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Common Crow Butterfly | Euploea core photo
The male Common Crow butterfly flutters above the female in a mating ritual.

Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Common Crow Butterfly | Euploea core photo
I watched the male Common Crow hover over the female for several minutes. As I turned away to leave, I saw a flash of orange at the end of the male's abdomen as it extended the orange-yellow brushes. By the time I got the camera out, the display was over so no photo. However if you look closely at the tip of the male's abdomen,. you can just see an orange colour - this must be where the concealed brushes emerge.

Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Common Crow Butterfly | Euploea core photo
Common Crow larva on potted fig plant

Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.

Common Crow Butterfly | Euploea core photo
Common Crow pupa on rim of a terra cotta flower pot

Photograph copyright: ozwildlife - all rights reserved. Used with permission.







INSECT FACTS

Identification
The Common Crow Butterfly is a large black butterfly with white spots on the fore wings and a band of elongated spots on the hind wings. The outer wing margins have small white spots. The males have a pair of hidden orange-yellow brushes at the tip of the abdomen, which they can extend into bright coloured patch as part of the mating ritual or to deter predators. These brushes emit a musky odour. The caterpillars are striped. Pupa have metallic silvery sheen.

Other Names
Oleander Butterfly

Size
wingspan 70mm, Caterpillar about 50mm

Habitat
The Common Crow is found in open forest and woodland. Often seen in parks and gardens

Food
Common Crow Butterfly caterpillars feed on a wide range of native plants. They are often found in gardens feeding on Ficus (figs), Hoya, Mandevilla, Nerium oleander, Trachelospermum (star jasmines). The larvae eat the leaf and soft stem parts.

Range
Throughout tropical Australia and eastern Queensland. Adults sometimes disperse further down eastern Australia as far as Victoria, but there are no permanent breeding populations further south than northern New South Wales.



Classification
Class:Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Nymphalidae
Genus:Euploea
Species:core
Common Name:Common Crow Butterfly