Alian invader

Thought you may like to see these photos of Dryas julia, photographed in a neighbours garden in Koh Samui. I thought I had caught the wrong plane and ended up in C. America, but have been told that escapees could well have spread and bred. Taken with a simple family Olympus, not designed for nature photography so apologies if the standard is not up to your usual standard. Camera has a long shutter delay, and these were the best I had. You never know, they may turn up wild in Singapore soon!
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Your maiden post here, Les. :cheers: I've moved the post to the Sighting Records and Outings SubForum.

Yes, Dryas julia is featured at a Butterfly Park near you - at Phuket. The last time I went there, this species was really common in the park. They breed on the host plant Passiflora foetida which it shares with the Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) and Tawny Coster (Acraea violae). Both these two species have already made their way to Singapore, and perhaps the Dryas may start moving down south soon. So far, there have been no reports of it in Malaysia yet, as far as I know.

Here are more shots of Dryas julia taken by our member Soon Chye, when he was at the Phuket Butterfly Park recently.

I also shot it at chiangmai's butterfly park

time to get a better digicam?

Sorry for not seeing this thread sooner, as I usually just check the Early Stages and Host Plants forum. FYI, here is a good Internet photo of the Julia (Dryas iulia*) caterpillar. Larvae reportedly eat some 30 different Passiflora across their large Neotropical range and, judging from my experience, this butterfly can probably also use your local Adenia to reproduce. Incidentally, brilliantly colored Julia males are often seen sipping fluids from the eyes of basking caimans and turtles in parts of South America. (Click here to read about a recently discovered tear-drinking moth.) Happy hunting!

Keith

* Correct spelling of the scientific name is iulia, not "julia".

By Carlos Methfessel (captioned only as a multicolored "raupe"), shot in a Munich, Germany, butterfly house:

Thanks, Keith, for the info and larva photo. Now I know what to look out for when checking the local weed, Passiflora foetida.

Les