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Butterfly populations are a very good indicator of the health of an area's ecosystem !!

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This butterfly loves to lay its eggs on its host plant, Passiflora. As the caterpillars hatch, they feed on this host plant until they pupate or make their chrysalis. The caterpillars digest chemicals from the host plant that help defend them against predators. 
   When the male and the female butterflies of the same species do not look alike, this is called sexual dimorphism. (Sexual dimorphism occurs in several species of butterflies.) 
   One reason that the male butterflies are brighter is because they are constantly flying around to find mates so they need to be able to attract the attention of the female butterflies. 
   The female butterflies tend to move very little until they are mated. 
   The male Leopard Lacewing has orange on the inside of its wings. The male also has brighter colors on the outside wings, while the female’s inside and outside wings appear white or yellow and are not as bright.
   A Leopard Lacewing butterfly that has male characteristics on the right wings and female characteristics on the left wings, is considered gynandromorph.
Avg. Wingspan: 8 - 9 cm / 3.1 - 3.5 "
Diet: caterpillars feed on the young shoots, leaves and external surface of grown-up stems of their host plant.
Diet: adults feed on the nectar of flowers.

Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta, Order: Lepidoptera

Avg. Body Length: 1 - 1.5 cm / .4 - .6"
   * There are currently two known subspecies of the Leopard Lacewing (Cethisia ceyane) butterfly, one group from India, Bhutan and Burma, and one group from northern Thailand and Indo-China.
* Being Brush-footed butterflies, Lacewings have a short pair of fore legs that are used to taste food, and two pairs of longer rear legs that are used for propulsion.
Leopard Lacewing chrysalis
Leopard Lacewing caterpillar
Leopard Lacewing caterpillar
The single biggest threat to butterfly survival is habitat destruction!!
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