In flight this is a fast moving, large, darkly coloured butterfly. At rest the intricate under-wing patterns and 4 tails can be observed. It is generally localised to hilly areas where the caterpillar food plant of Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) is situated.

The butterflies can be seen feeding on ripe fruit such as figs as well as faeces.

The caterpillar can be up to 6cm in length. It is green with 4 very distinctive backward facing spikes on its head. They create a silk pad on a leaf and return to this after feeding.

Family: Nymphalidae
Scientific name: Charaxes jasius
English common name: Two-tailed Pasha
Spanish common name: Bajá de dos colas


Wing size: 75-80mm
Altitude: sea level to 600m
Flight time: May-June and August-October in two broods
Over-wintering: As a caterpillar.
Caterpillar food plant: Arbutus unedo
Distribution: Southern Iberia and around the Mediterranean basin.
Similar species: there are no similar species within Europe

They are included in the list of butterflies found in Andalusia.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Comment

smaller | bigger

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment