Daphnis nerii (Linnaeus, 1758)


Daphnis nerii: Female (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Female (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Female (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Male (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Male (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Male (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Freshly emerged adult (e.l. Rhodos 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Freshly emerged adult (e.l. Rhodos 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Freshly emerged adult (e.l. Rhodos 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Egg (one day prior to hatching, Rhodes, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: Dead egg (Rhodes, September 2013). Such parasitized or unfertile eggs could be observed quite often. [M] Daphnis nerii: L1 (Rhodes, September 2012) [M] Daphnis nerii: L1-larva (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva in the end of the first instar (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L2 (Rhodes, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: L2-larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: L2-larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: L2-larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: L3-larva (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L3-larva (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L3-larva (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L4-larva (penultimate instar, e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L4-larva (penultimate instar, e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: L4 (penultimate instar, breeding photo) [S] Daphnis nerii: L4-larva (penultimate instar, e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva after the last moult (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva after the last moult (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva, yellow [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Stegna, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Stegna, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Stegna, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Larva (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Stegna, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: Larva (Rhodes, Kolymbia, September 2013) [M] Daphnis nerii: Larva prior to pupation (darkening) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva prior to pupation (darkening) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Pupa a day prior to emergence (e.l. Rhodes 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Larva in 3 meters height in a tall oleander hedge (Stegna, Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Feeding scars (Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Natural habitat (temporary river discharging into the sea, Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Natural habitat in a partially dry river bed (Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Cultivated oleander as larval habitat (Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Cultivated oleander as larval habitat (Rhodes, September 2013) [S] Daphnis nerii: Cultivated oleander as larval habitat (Rhodes, September 2013) [N] Daphnis nerii: Cultivated oleander as larval habitat (Rhodes, September 2013) [N]

Host plants:
Oleander shrubs (Nerium oleander)

Habitat:
In Southern Europe Daphnis nerii inhabits dry riverbeds with the food plant and roadsides and gardens with cultivated oleander. I found, for example, caterpillars and eggs in early September 1993 and 2013 in Rhodes. In North Africa, Daphnis nerii is found in oases and gardens.

Life cycle:
Daphnis nerii has several generations per year in the south and is continous-brooded because there is no overwintering stage. Daphnis nerii reaches occasionally as very rare migrant also Central Europe.

Oviposition takes place on the lower side of the leaves, occasionally also on flower buds or twigs. The larvae live on the lower side of the leaves, later on also on the twigs or in the inflorescences. They are conspicious because of their feeding pattern combined with excrements on the ground. Pupation takes place in a loose cocoon in the litter.

Endangerment factors:
There is no larger threat because Daphnis nerii is a migrant butterfly north of the Alps and can develop in human settlements and hotels in the south.

Remarks:
Daphnis nerii is found in tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia as well as on Hawaii. In Europe it is native only in the extreme south and especially in the southeast (southern Greek islands). In Rhodes it is quite common and you often can observe dozens of larvae especially in August/September. Further north only sporadically migratory individuals are recorded. These oviposit also on potted oleanders.