A Study on the Biological Habits of Cethosia bibles

Cethosia bibles is a butterfly with high aesthetic value.The morphological characteristics of its egg,larva,pupa and adult were described in this paper,and the biological habits of the butterfly were also studied based on breeding indoors and observation outdoors.Annually,the species has 7 generations in Xishuangbanna,and it over-winters by the 7th generation of larva in the 3rd instar stage.The period of over-wintering begins in Dec.and ends in the following Feb..The period of each generation lasts for 35 to 40 days,the periods of the egg,larva and pupa lasts for 8 to 11 days,12 to16 days and 8 to 9 days respectively.The lifespan of female adult is around 12 to 18 days and that of male adult is 6 to 10 days.The larva stage has 4 instars.The 1st and the 2nd instars feed on tender leaves gregariously.The 3rd and the 4th instars live on tender leaves,young shoots or old leaves.The 4th instar also feeds on the green cuticle of the stem and its feeding quantity occupies 78.98% of the total during the larva period.The larvae like eating Adenia parviflora,and the adults like visiting many flowerers such as Lantana camara,Ixora chinensis,Bougainvillea glabra,and so on.The mating ratio and the number of oviposition of the adults under human feeding condition are correlative with both the size of the net room and the density of the butterflies.