Ariadne merione
2985218
219743180
2008-06-16T18:07:43Z
Word4michael
4316723
corrected typo showed "30-35cm" instead of the correct "30-35mm" in the introduction
{{Taxobox
| name = Common Castor
| image = Ariadne_merione.png
| image_width = 200px
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Arthropod]]a
| classis = [[Insect]]a
| ordo = [[Lepidoptera]]
| familia = [[Brush-footed butterfly|Nymphalidae]]
| genus = ''[[Ariadne (genus)|Ariadne]]''
| species = '''''A. merione'''''
| binomial = ''Ariadne merione''
| binomial_authority = ([[Pieter Cramer|Cramer]], [[1777]])
| synonyms = ''Ergolis merione''
}}
'''Ariadne merione''', also known as the '''Common Castor''', is an orange [[butterfly]] with brown lines whose [[larvae]] feed almost exclusively on Castor ''[[Ricinus communis]]''.
This species is found in south-eastern [[Asia]]. Their wingspan ranges between 30-35mm. Like others in the [[Brush-footed butterfly|Nymphalidae]] family, their front two legs are small and unused, effectively making them four-legged. These smaller appendages are covered with long hairs, giving them the characteristic brush look.
==Description==
===Wet-season form===
[[Image:Ariadnemerione ad sec.jpg |thumb|left]]
Male: Upper side brownish ochraceous. Fore and hind wings crossed by slender, somewhat obscure, very sinuous or zigzag dark basal, two subbasal and two discal lines disposed in pairs, followed by a single, sometimes double, postdiscal and a single subterminal slender line. All these lines more or less interrupted anteriorly on the hind wing, which has a smooth unmarked uniform appearance from costa to subcostal vein and vein 5. On the fore wing there is in addition a series of obscure spots between the postdiscal and subterminal markings, arid a small white subcostal spot before the apex.
[[Image:Common Castor Ariadne merione I IMG 0515.jpg|thumb| In [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. ]]
Underside much as in ''[[Ariadne ariadne]]'', but the transverse chestnut bands broader, more diffuse. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brownish ochraceous. Sex-mark on the underside of the fore wing as in ''A. ariadne'' no sex-mark on upper side of hind wing; <ref>Bingham, C. T. (1905) [[Fauna of British India]]. Butterflies Vol. 1</ref>
Female: Similar; but on the upperside the transverse lines broader, more diffuse, with a greater tendency to form bands; the postdiscal line always double, forming a band traversed by a series of dark ochraceous spots in the interspaces; these lines and bands continuous, not interrupted anteriorly on the hind wing as they are in the male. Underside: except for the sex-mark, as in the male.
===Dry-season form===
[[Image:Common Castor (Ariadne merione) in Kolkata W IMG 4467.jpg|thumb|left|Dry-season form in [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. ]]
[[Image:Common Castor (Ariadne merione) in Kolkata W IMG 4465.jpg|thumb|Dry-season form in [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]. ]]
Upperside : ground-colour much paler, the transverse lines more distinctly in pairs, forming bands, the ground-colour between each pair more dusky brown. Underside similar to that in the wet-season form, but the ground-colour paler, the bands more diffuse.
Expanse: 52-62 mm
==Distribution==
All over India, Simla to Sikhim in the Himalayas, and recorded from Rajputana and Bengal; Assam; Burma; Tenasserim; Malayan Subregion. The Tenasserim specimens are darker and often without the white subcostal spot in the fore wing, approximating thus to the Southern Indian and Ceylon race.
==Life history==
<gallery>
Image:Ariadne merione egg sec.jpg|Egg
Image:Ariadnemerione egg sec.jpg |Egg
Image:Ariadne merione cat sec.jpg |Caterpillar
Image:Ariadnemerione pupa sec.jpg |Chrysalis
Image:Common castor mating.JPG|Common Castor Mating
Image:Common Castor Ariadne merione I IMG 0524.jpg| In [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
Image:Common Castor Ariadne merione I IMG 0503.jpg| In [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
Image:Common Castor Ariadne merione I IMG 0519.jpg| In [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
Image:Common Castor (Ariadne merione) at Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W Picture 382.jpg| at [[Jayanti]] in [[Buxa Tiger Reserve]] in [[Jalpaiguri]] district of [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
Image:Common Castor (Ariadne merione) at Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W Picture 381.jpg| at [[Jayanti]] in [[Buxa Tiger Reserve]] in [[Jalpaiguri]] district of [[West Bengal]], [[India]].
</gallery>
==Larva==
"Cylindrical, slender; segments armed with two dorsal and two lateral rows of short branched-spines; head with a pair of long, straight branched-spines. Colour green with dorsal longitudinal dark brown lines." (Moore) [[Caterpillar]]s of the genus are protected from predators by their long spinous bristles. Their [[Pupa#Chrysalis|chrysalids]] are pale green and angular in shape.
==Pupa==
"Similar to that of ''A. ariadne.''" (Moore)
==References==
<references/>
{{nymphalidae-stub}}