Cruiser Butterfly
SPECIES Cruiser Butterfly
TAXONOMY Vindula arsinoe ada
STATUS Not Listed
The Cruiser Butterfly can be viewed from February to May in vine thickets of lowland rainforests north of Mackay Queensland up through Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They congregate near wet soil where they obtain nutrients from the liquid, a phenomenon known as ‘mud-puddling’. The females often lay their eggs on dead cell matter rather than on a leaf. This alludes to the concept that not many things eat dead cell matter and hence their eggs will have a better chance of survival.
The adult males and females have vastly different appearances. The male is orange brown with several fine black borders around the upper and lower leading edge, and two small eye spots on the hindwings. The female is slightly larger with a wingspan of 82 mm. The upper wings have dark tips and rows of white crescents across the centre and onto the leading edge of the hindwing. It also has two small eyespots on each hindwing.
Primary Larva Food Source
Blunt-leaved Passionfruit, Red Passion Flower (Passiflora aurantia)
Caterpillar
Black with white patches on the side of each segment.
Pairs of black and white tentacles.
Feed mainly at night.
Chrysalis
Green or brown with silvery spots.
3 pairs of wing-like extensions.
Can resemble a dead leaf.
Sensitive to disturbance.
Threats
Living up to 4 weeks in the wild, the butterflies can be found feeding from small, herbaceous flowering plants. The Cruiser is one of the species openly advertised and bred for the purpose of release during special events such as weddings as an ‘eco-friendly’ experience alternative. The argument over this practice is the possibility of damage to local ecological systems by the possibility of the introduction of a species outside of its natural habitat.
Updated 5 May 2021