On the eve of Chinese New Year, we went to a location popular with cyclists to look for… Courtesans.. yeah we have not had enough of Courtesans. But there were none. However, we came across a very small but skilled practitioner of the Snake Boxing Wushu Style.
Tailed Jay Caterpillar
No bigger than 4cm and appearing to the early 5th instar of the Tailed Jay butterfly, this fiesty little green denizen shook its spiky head violently at ants that got in its green underskirt in an attempt to jab them with its tiny little horns on each side of its bulbous head.
Tailed Jay Caterpillar rearing its head complete with forked tongue
When threatened by much larger animals if you breathed on it or happened to shake its leaves too much or if you decided to touch it, the little fellow will rear its head and stick out its forked tongue, trying to look like a 4cm long snake.
Tailed Jay, Graphium agamemnon agamemnon
When minding about its own business, it moves like a leaf gently moving with the breeze. When it is done with its multi-legged life, the caterpillar turns into the most beautiful green butterfly which very rarely ever stops for the photographer.
Happy Chinese New Year of the Snake!
Butterfly Effect 
I love the butterfly pictures – I wish mine were half as good
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the kind comments. For every 1 photo which marginally makes it on the blog, there are a few hundreds that don’t… And to get a photo of the Tailed Jay shot locally, that took me about 1 year or so!
Wonderful!
Thanks Lauri!