Malachite Butterfly Siproeta stelenes
The Malachite, named after the green-coloured stone, is a large butterfly with a wingspan of up to 10cm (4 inches).
The beautiful underside.
The Malachite is superficially similar to the Scarce Bamboo Page butterfly, also called Dido Longwing. They are both native to Central and northern South America.
The green varies from blue-green to yellow-green.
The brown colour is also variable from almost black through dark brown to light tan.
The chrysalis has beautiful gold spikes to deter predators.
The fully-grown caterpillar is black with a greeny-black face and with 2 rows of red spikes and several black spikes.
Links:
Scarce Bamboo Page
Scarce Bamboo Page