FAMILY NAME: Nymphalidae GENUS/SPECIES/RACE: Euploea core corinna COMMON NAMES: Common Australian Crow or Oleander Crow
SIZE: Wingspan approx 70mm or 3".
LOCATION: Several races are found through South East Asia, but the race "Corrina" is found in Northern Australia. They might also be found as far south as New South Wales and South Australia.
LIFE CYCLE: During the larval stage the early instars reach about 10mm and are orange in colour, with 4 pairs of feelers, one pair at the rear and three at the front half of the body. Mid instars grow to about 40mm and are orange in colour with black and white bands for the length of the body. The larval stage lasts about 21 days with the final length of the caterpillar about 60mm.
The Pupa stage lasts for approx. 2 weeks. The colour of the pupa changes from metallic brown to metallic silver/gold, and again to transparent when the butterly is about to emerge.
The adult butterflies have a lifespan of about 12 weeks.
HOST PLANTS:
- Chilean Jasmine (Mandevilla laxa)
- Chinese Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)
- Milweed plants (Asclepias spp)
- Monkey Rope Vine (Parsonsia straminea)
- Oleander (Nerium oleander)
- Port Jackson Fig (Ficus rubiginosa)
- Wedding Plant (Stephanotis spp)
- Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)
GENERAL: The host plants of these butterflies all exude a milky sap which contains toxins. The lava is immune to these toxins and actually becomes toxic itself. For this reason the lava and butterfly have few predators. They are dark brown to black with white spots around the wing margins, and the body is black with white spots. As they belong to the Nymphalidae family, only 4 of the six legs are fully developed on the butterfly. The males have a narrow panel on each forewing which releases a scent to attract the females of the species. During the winter they gather in large numbers, and become dormant until the warmer weather arrives.
