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Return to Life Cycle Studies of Lower Rio Grande Valley Butterflies
Although Black Swallowtails -Papilio polyxenes asterius are a commonly found Swallowtail in the LRGV, I have
yet to do a life cycle photo essay until now. On 10/19/2014, I observed a Black Swallowtail ovipositing on Parsley -
Petroselinum crispum that I had growing amongst other herbs on our patio. We have seen them use Parsley,
Rue, Dill, and Fennel as a host plant around our house, before. In our front flower beds, we plant Fennel and Dill specifically
for the Black Swallowtails to use, but we don't tolerate them on the Rue or Parsley in the back. If we see caterpillars
on herbs planted for our use, we just transfer the cats to the herbs in the front. Berry Nall has found them using our
native Dutchman's Britches - Thamnosma texana in the wild, but they have
never used ours. I collected two eggs and Parsley and brought them
inside, to begin the study. I forgot to take pictures of the eggs after I dealt with getting everything ready for the
study inside, but the photos taken on the next day showed no difference in appearance from the day before. After 4 days
from eclosing, the caterpillar quit eating the Parsley. I then switched to Rue - Ruta graveolens
(we had several caterpillars on the Rue, earlier) for the remainder of this study. There
was nothing exceptional about this Black Swallowtail study, but it was fun to do, and to finally get this one done.
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
Curly-leaf Parsley - Petroselinum crispum
10/20/2014. Day-2 from
when the egg was laid. Observed a Black Swallowtail laying eggs on Curly-leaf Parsley - Petroselinum crispum. The
eggs were laid on 10/19/2014, but I did not take a photo on the first day (eggs on Day-1 looked the same as on Day-2).
10/21/2014. Day-3 from when the egg was laid.
10/23/2014. Day-5 from
when the egg was laid. The caterpillar has eclosed, beginning Day-1 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 2mm long.
10/25/2014. Day-7 from when the egg was laid. Day-3 as a caterpillar.
The caterpillar is 3mm long.
10/28/2014. Day-10 from
when the egg was laid. Day-6 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 6mm long. The caterpillar quit eating Parsley, so it was fed Rue - Ruta graveolens for
the remainder of this study.
10/31/2014. Day-13 from
when the egg was laid. Day-9 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 7mm long.
11/3/2014. Day-16 from
when the egg was laid. Day-12 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 11mm long.
11/4/2014. Day-17 from when the egg was laid.
Day-13 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 13mm long.
11/6/2014. Day-19 from
when the egg was laid. Day-15 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 14mm long.
11/7/2014. Day-20 from
when the egg was laid. Day-16 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 15mm long.
11/8/2014. Day-21 from
when the egg was laid. Day-17 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 18mm long.
11/10/2014. Day-23 from
when the egg was laid. Day-19 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 21mm long.
11/13/2014. Day-26 from
when the egg was laid. Day-22 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 26mm long.
11/15/2014. Day-28 from
when the egg was laid. Day-24 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 29mm long.
11/17/2014. Day-30 from
when the egg was laid. Day-26 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 35mm long.
11/19/2014. Day-32 from
when the egg was laid. Day-28 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 40mm long.
11/21/2014. Day-34 from
when the egg was laid. Day-30 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 40mm long. The caterpillar has been wandering
around all over the place, indicating it is looking for a place to form a "J".
11/22/2014.
Day-35 from when the egg was laid. Day-31 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar has formed a "J",
attaching itself to the stick with a girdle.
11/23/2014. Day-36
from when the egg was laid. The caterpillar has formed a chrysalis, beginning Day-1 as a chrysalis.
11/24/2014. Day-37
from when the egg was laid. Day-2 as a chrysalis. The
chrysalis has turned a little more green in color in one day.
11/30/2014. Day-43
from when the egg was laid. Day-8 as a chrysalis. There is very little change in the chrysalis' appearance in the
past 6 days.
6/25/15. Day-250
from when the egg was laid. Day-215 as a chrysalis. There is very little change in the chrysalis' appearance in the
past 207 days.
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