PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL - Battus philenor LIFE CYCLE STUDY

The Rio Grande Valley's Nature Site

PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL - Battus philenor LIFE CYCLE STUDY

| |

Return to Life Cycle Studies of Lower Rio Grande Valley Butterflies

On 3/30/2013, I observed a Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor laying eggs on Swanflower - Aristolochia erecta in one of my flower beds. I collected the eggs and spent 33 days rearing the butterfly. Unfortunately, as usual I missed seeing the caterpillar form its chrysalis, and I missed seeing the butterfly emerge. I soon learned what tremendous eaters the Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars are. I had to remove and disperse to areas away from our house at least 100 other caterpillars, in order to have enough food plant for my study.

Swanflower is the only Pipevine that I have ever found in the LRGV. Swanflower needs rain. In wetter years we have lots of Swanflower around, thus lots of Pipevine Swallowtails. During drought conditions, like this area has been under for the past few years, there is less Swanflower, thus fewer Pipevine Swallowtails.

All photos on this site are by Jan Dauphin and are copyright protected and may not be used or published elsewhere without the permission of Jan Dauphin

Swanflower - Aristolochia erecta is the Pipevine that grows all over the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Although it is a common species, Swanflower is often hard to find. It looks a lot like a grass, usually growing less than 5 inches tall, and it likes full sun. Growing from a deep-rooted tuber, it is easy to propogate from seed. One of the best ways to spot this plant when not in bloom is to watch for female Pipevine Swallowtails going to the ground.

3/30/2013 at 1038hrs. I watched this female Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus philenor lay a cluster of 5 eggs on Swanflower in my yard, then moved on to other Swanflowers to lay more eggs.

3/30/2013 at 1109hrs., Day-1 as eggs. I collected the Swanflower leaf with the eggs and took them inside to begin this study.

4/3/2013, Day-5 from when the eggs were laid. For the first time I can see the dark caterpillars inside the eggs.

4/4/2013, Day-6 from when the eggs were laid. All 5 caterpillars begin to eclose, beginning Day-1 as caterpillars. They are 2mm long.

4/6/2013, Day-8 from when the eggs were laid, Day-3 as caterpillars. The caterpillars are 4mm long.

4/8/2013, Day-10 from when the eggs were laid, Day-5 as caterpillars. The caterpillars are 8mm long. Since the caterpillars are such voracious eaters, I have reduced the study caterpillars to two individuals.

4/10/2013, Day-12 from when the eggs were laid, Day-7 as caterpillars. The caterpillars are 15mm long.

4/14/2013, Day-16 from when the eggs were laid, Day-11 as caterpillars. The caterpillars are 35mm long. I reduced the study number to one individual, after this photo.

4/17/2013 at 2234hrs, Day-19 from when the eggs were laid, Day-14 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar has spent the last few hours wandering all over the top of the study enclosure, before finally attaching itself to the underside of the top of the enclosure. The red spot and matter are from fluid that the caterpillar has expelled.

4/17/2013 at 2236hrs., Day-19 from when the eggs were laid, Day-14 as a caterpillar. A view of the underside of the caterpillar from above shows all the silk the caterpillar has spread out around it (you are not seeing scratches on the enclosure), as well as the two girdles of silk that have it attached to the top. The red spot and matter are from fluid that the caterpillar has expelled.

4/18/2013 at 0743hrs., Day-20 from when the eggs were laid, Day-15 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar has formed a "J".

4/19/2013 at 1521hrs., Day-21 from when the eggs were laid, Day-1 as a chrysalis. DARN IT! THIS WAS A CATERPILLAR JUST 3-4 MINUTES AGO, AND I MISSED WATCHING IT FORM THE CHRYSALIS!

4/22/2013 at 1732hrs, Day-25 from when the eggs were laid, Day-4 as a chrysalis.

5/1/2013 at 0821hrs., Day-33 from when the eggs were laid, Day-13 as a chrysalis. The chrysalis had not shown any change in the past 13 days, until this morning when it started darkening.

5/1/2013 at 1232hrs., Day-33 from when the eggs were laid, the female Pipevine Swallowtail has emerged about 45 minutes ago. Of course, when I checked an hour ago, it was a chrysalis that had not darkened as much as I am used to seeing prior to emergence, so I again missed the "coming-out party".

5/1/2013, at 1235 hrs., Day-33 from when the eggs were laid. The female Pipevine Swallowtail was released on our native Velvet Lantana - Lantana veultina, to feed, about a foot away from the Swanflower where the eggs were collected.