Jai Poopie, Junior - a biography

‘Twas around the 27th of August, 2008, that I saw a small, blackish caterpillar on the leaves of our small potted curry-leaf plant. I’d seen some before; left them alone, and they’d disappeared in a couple of days, eaten possibly by birds or a lizard. Determined to give this one a chance, my twin nieces, Jai and I carefully put it into a wide mouthed, gauze-lidded box, and opened some books to check what species it was.
Different butterfly species lay their eggs on different plants, which serve as food for their larvae. So, if you know the plant, you can find out the species. Our book said, both the Lime and Common Mormon caterpillars can be found on the curry-leaf plant. A closer look at the caterpillar, and a search on the Net confirmed that indeed, the caterpillar was that of the Common Mormon.
We lined the box with tissue paper, put in a dried twig, and fresh curry leaves every day. The caterpillar ate, and pooped, and ate, and pooped. See the mustard-seed-like droppings above – that’s about an hour’s output! I used to shake out the tissue paper everyday.
Given Jai’s name of Jai Poopie (short for Jai Fuffarji, my brother’s daughter’s name for him), and the caterpillar’s propensity for pooping, it was promptly named Jai Poopie Junior, JPJ for short. It was a source of pleasure for both JPJ’s namesake Jai and me to peer often and marvel at JPJ.
Caterpillars moult, or shed their skin, as they grow. The phase between two moultings is called an ‘instar’. In its first instar, the Common Mormon caterpillar looks, as you can see, like a bird dropping or bird poop, to protect it from being eaten by birds.
On the 1st Sep early morning, my sister, the twins and my mother all left. At 12 noon, I took a look at JPJ. Its colour, we noticed, seemed a little dull. I came back at 3 pm, and was stunned!
In the space of those 3 hours, it had turned green! Its second instar!!
For the next two weeks, JPJ ate prodigiously. He grew into a handsome, large, velvety, rich green caterpillar. It was amazing to watch his jaws scything effortlessly thru a leaf, he’d finish one in about 30 seconds. chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp-DONE. Jai and I were fascinated.
To save our little curry leaf plant, I tried feeding JPJ leaves from another, insect infested plant. No, thank you. OK, every morning fresh from our veggie vendor (“No, only one sprig, please. yes, to feed a worm. No, I’m not mad”). He’d eat that if there wasn’t anything else. But he showed a clear preference for the leaves from our downstairs plants, esp the tender ones.
JPJ, 10th Sep. Note his size relative to a curry-leaf, the handsome markings, and the rich colouring.
On the 11th, we had to leave for Chennai for two days. We were wondering if he’d be ok. On the 11th morning, Jai showed me a large, brown stain on the tissue paper, and JPJ crouched, shrunken, on the underside of the lid. It looked like he’d had diarrhea. We were concerned – was he ok? The position looked like he was ready to pupate, but why the diarrhea, why had he shrunk?
I later understood from Mrs. Salem, our encyclopedia on anything lepidopteral*, that caterpillars evacuate their bowels in preparation for pupating (*showing off the only entomological term I know. Butterflies and moths belong to the order ‘Lepidoptera’)
1.45 p.m, ready to leave, and no change. He’d stopped eating and pooping, and still clung to the underside of the lid.
13th Sep, 1.30 p.m: We’re back, and the first thing we do is rush to JPJ’s box: tra la! A totally dried looking, small pupa, attached to the underside of the lid with a silken loop.
Salem Aunty told us that the butterfly could take anywhere from 8-15 days to emerge. 21st came, and no change. Jai was disappointed – he left for the US that night, for a week, hoping that JPJ would stay put till he returned. Every day when we spoke, I’d have to give him an update: no change.
And then, today morning: 25th Sep, 7 a.m I saw that the pupa had turned dark, and the walls looked thinner, kind of transparent: as I lifted the lid to take a picture, I could see it shake as the butterfly within kicked! Then it became still, and after a while with no movement, I thought it had kicked because I’d disturbed it, and left it alone. See pic below, see the prominent ‘horns’, not there in the fresh pupa?


8.30 a.m, I walk into the hall – and let out a yell that brings our cook running. There’s a large, handsome butterfly hanging from the lid!! It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s incredible! Our cook and I gaze at it and whisper, fascinated. It’s pooped! A liquid, brown, blob. Amazing, after 2 weeks of no food or drink. It hangs there, slowly folding-unfolding its wings.



I call up Salem Aunty. “It’s a male. The female has crimson spots”, she tells me. Look at it. Isn’t it beautiful? I now understand the term META-morphosis. What an amazing change has taken place – and within such a small pupa! The colour and shape of the body. Those scything jaws have vanished, replaced by a long, slender, coiled proboscis – tube – which it will use to insert into flowers and suck up the nectar. The miniscule, stumpy legs are gone – check out the slender, dainty, ballerina legs. The antennae. And of course, the beautiful wings. See the ‘tail’? That’s why this species of butterfly belongs to the family of butterflies called ‘Swallowtails’.
At 10 a.m, it looked vigorous, moving its wings briskly. It gave me a shot of its wings spread out. I held the lid near the window. Letting out a valedictory poop, it went flutter-flutter, and away it flew, to land on the bushes outside. A minute later, it was gone. Au revoir, JPJ!