Polyura sempronius
species of insect
Polyura (pyrrhus) sempronius, the tailed emperor, is a large butterfly by Australian standards, with a wingspan of some 75 mm for males and 85 mm for females. The uncommon but widespread butterfly occurs in a variety of habitat types in northern and eastern Australia, where it occurs predominantly in the warm and subtropical coastal regions. It is a resident species where its food plants, certain legumes (Mimosaceae and Caesalpiniaceae) and kurrajongs, are native.
Description
Larva
The green, mature caterpillar is unique among Australian butterflies. A yellow line runs along each side, and the back is marked by one or more crescent shapes. The green head has two pairs of long horns besides a smaller set behind the head-scale.
Adult
The upperside is boldly marked in black and white, with narrow blue-grey margins, and specks of orange on the hindwings. The prominent double-pointed tails gives the butterfly its name. The underwing of both sexes are marked in complex patterns of red and yellow brown, against on a white background, bordered by black outlines and an orange edge to the hindwing.
Range
Though formerly limited to northern and eastern Australia, it expanded its range during the 1970s.
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This entry incorporates text from “Polyura sempronius” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.