Male Striped Blue Crow Euploea mulciber butterfly feeding on the nectar of Stachytarpheta cayennensis a common invasive weed in Borneo which originated in South America. Photo taken in the flower garden of Kipandi Butterfly Farm.
The Striped Blue Crow is a common butterfly of the forest edge in Borneo, and throughout SE Asia. The preferred hosts of the larvae are lactiferous plants i.e. those plants which when cut produce abundant latex. All figs are lactiferous. The purpose of the latex is to clog up the mouth parts of animals including insects that eat the leaves. However the Euploea Crow butterfly caterpillars possess an unknown mechanism to overcome the latex, and figs are important host plants for the larvae of Euploea butterflies.
