Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

My better half had put a parsley plant out in the yard to get some rain for a few days, and it also picked up some eggs that turned into larvae from a Black Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes), a.k.a. Parsnip Swallowtail - they like to eat plants of that family (carrots, parsley, parsnip, etc). The parsley had been moved into the screened-in pool area, and was therefore less prone to birds picking off the caterpillars.

Great shots! And thanks for the education...always learning on this site!

Closely related to the anise swallowtail we have on the West Coast. Your last photo shows a parasitic wasp, which you'll have to get rid of if you want a butterfly. Explained here: https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1303886

9-18 days for the pupal stage seems short. My specimen has been a chrysalis for seven weeks. Some in this species go into diapause and don't emerge as butterflies until the next year or even later.

OhLook wrote in post #16140859
Closely related to the anise swallowtail we have on the West Coast. Your last photo shows a parasitic wasp, which you'll have to get rid of if you want a butterfly. Explained here: https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1303886

9-18 days for the pupal stage seems short. My specimen has been a chrysalis for seven weeks. Some in this species go into diapause and don't emerge as butterflies until the next year or even later.

Ah, I was wondering is that was a parasitic wasp or similar.

Hmm, I guess I'll remove it, even though there are plenty of Black Swallowtails around. I would like to follow this particular specimen.

According to the UF site I referenced, over-wintering the pupal stage can take longer, but mid-year (like now) it is only 9-18 weeks. I'm quite happy to be corrected with better info, though:

http://entnemdept.ifas​.ufl.edu …ern_black_swall​owtail.htm

shinksma

Just like OhLook, I missed the stage of chrysalis formation when the skin peels off. I got some shots this morning of a nice and green chrysalis, but missed that critical stuff yesterday - life tends to interfere with such things...

I'll post more photos tonight, if I get a chance.

shinksma

OK, so I didn't post anything that night a couple weeks ago, but instead here are a few shots over the last couple of weeks, culminating with the brand new butterfly struggling to get that last piece of wing out of the the old chrysalis "shell":

A butterfly with broken wings is falling by your side
The ravens all are closing in and there's nowhere you can hide

Bonus points if you get the reference without using Google.

btw, that would be an 18-day chrysalis stage for this specimen - right at the upper end of the estimate from UF's website for this time of year.

shinksma

Edger Alan Poe

They usually crawl out quickly once the shell breaks along the weak joints. Can you use some small tool to cut away the part of the shell that forms a trap? I'm afraid that by this time the butterfly probably has a wing that won't expand.

Six Fifty B wrote in post #16192954
Edger Alan Poe

Nope.

I can't even think if there is an obvious link between EAP and the referenced "couplet".

Oh, and "couplet" is a minor hint too.

Anyway, OhLook, did your chrysalis ever mature, or is it perhaps a failed stage?

shinksma

shinksma, mine was parasitized and never became a butterfly. I put an update in the thread in the Macro forum.

Have you rescued yours? It shouldn't be difficult. The poor thing will die of starvation and dehydration if it can't reach food.

OhLook wrote in post #16195150
shinksma, mine was parasitized and never became a butterfly. I put an update in the thread in the Macro forum.

Have you rescued yours? It shouldn't be difficult. The poor thing will die of starvation and dehydration if it can't reach food.

It was gone yesterday after I got home from work, so I hope it managed to free itself and is now happily sailing on a breeze, past a field of barbed wire trees...

Another random reference...

shinksma