“Life History And Larval Performance Of The Nymphalid Butterfly, Junonia Iphita Cramer From India”

We describe, for the first time, the life history of the Chocolate pansy butterfly, Junonia iphita Cramer and larval performance in terms of food consumption and utilization, and the length of life cycle on its host plant Dipteracanthus prostratus (Poir.) Nees. Our study was conducted throughout 2009 in the Andhra University campus and the Zoo Park area, 5 km away from the campus, at Visakhapatnam (17° 42' N and 82° 18' E), South India. Junonia iphita completes its life cycle in 26.00 ± 1.87 days (eggs 3, larvae, 15-17, pupae 6-8 days). The values of nutritional indices across the instars were AD (Approximate Digestibility) 33.15- 96.48%; ECD (Efficiency of Conversion of Digested food) 0.88-38.67%; ECI (Efficiency of Conversion of Ingested food) 0.85-19.14%, measured at the temperature of 28 ± 2 °C and RH of 80 ± 10% in the laboratory. These relatively high values, at least partially explain ecological success of J. iphita in the urban environment.