Common Eggfly Butterfly.
The pupa of the Common Eggfly suspends itself by just one point!
The “egg” refers to the white circle on the male butterflies wings.
Not literally, of course! However, the female Common Eggfly does not have the bright white “egg spots” and purple iridescence on her wings.
Instead, she is brownish-black, with faint white markings on the edge of her wings.
Next time you spot a Common Eggfly butterfly at the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, why not serenade it with a little Billie Holliday?
This butterfly is commonly known as the Blue Moon Butterfly in New Zealand.
Females are known to guard the leaves that they lay their eggs on. They even inspect the leaves for ants prior to laying!
The male Common Eggfly is one territorial little critter! They are known to physically battle over territories and each butterfly has his own specific territory.
t isn’t exactly our choice of drink, but these butterflies love it! They consume sweat for its salt contents, which is lacking in nectar flowers.
The white markings on the females outer-wing mimic the Common Crow Butterfly, which is, in fact, poisonous. Pretty clever way to deter predators!
The male population was sadly reduced by an infection caused by bacteria in the caterpillars. By 2001, the male population has to decreased to almost 1%.
However, these clever caterpillars developed an immunity to the infection and the population rocketed up to 40% by 2007.
Well, not literally; but they do have spikes and horns!
