Leopard Lacewing

Common designation for a butterfly, with the scientific name Cethosia cyane euanthes. Above, males are tawny with two-thirds of the forewing black and with a broad white bar, whilst the hind wings have a wavy black margin, lined with tiny black spots on the inner side. On the underside, it has irregular patches of different colours, including red, white, pale blue, pale brownish-yellow and black. The antennae, head and thorax are dusky brown, with the posterior part of the body somewhat paler. Females (fig.) have similar markings above, but the base colour is pale greenish-white, rather than tawny, with some additional brown and more black, whilst the underside is paler and the red in the male is replaced by brownish-yellow on the forewing and white on the hind wing. In Thai, it is known as phi seua kathakrok thammada (ผีเสื้อกะทกรกธรรมดา), i.e. ‘common passiflora butterfly’, named after the passionflower, a vine on which its caterpillars feed, sometimes in small groups. Leopard Lacewing caterpillars (fig.) have a black underside and a black head with two long antennae, and are marked with alternate bands of wine red and creamy yellow, and have long, black spines, that run down the entire length of the body. 回