#polyxene

[heartnosekid]

butterflygardeninginspirations on ig

butterflies in order: gifs 1, 3, 5, 7, & 9 are the monarch butterfly (danaus plexippus), orange-barred sulphur (phoebis philea), gulf fritillary (agraulis vanillae), eastern black swallowtail (papilio polyxenes), and another gulf fritillary.

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

EEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(black swallowtail caterpillar, Papilio polyxenes)

[geopsych]

Echinacea attracts butterflies. From the top, a black swallowtail, tiger swallowtail, and silver spotted skipper.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Papilio polyxenes--Black Swallowtail Butterfly Part 1

Been some years since I've raised these, but it was a fantastic experience to do so! All photos are mine, most unedited, except for the one on the chicory plant because it was pretty dull lighting and I wanted to bring out the colour.

They caterpillars were munching away in my grandmother's raised herb garden, so I took them in and raised them. Then when they hatched I put them on various flowers in her garden. In college when I brought the last of the season's pupas with me, I put the ones that hatched on the wildflowers outside.

The caterpillars have five instars (some people say only three; I say they aren't paying enough attention). They start off looking like bird shit and with each moult they get stripier until they're green or white with black stripes that have yellow spots. Then eventually they choose a spot, take a massive shit, string themselves up, do a dance, shuck their skin and then harden.

The pupas are either green or brown depending on their environment. They aren't completely immobile. They will jerk about if something irritates them.

When the butterflies hatch it takes a little time for them to work up to flying. In that window, you can stage them and get your photos in before they take off.

The darker adults with the larger blue areas are female and the ones with the broader yellow stripes are the males. Most of mine ended up female. I personally think the females are prettier with their black and blue, but the males are still very attractive butterflies as well. See him face on the red geraniums. :)

Hand pictured is mine. lol

[windkonig]

this Papilio polyxenes caterpillar has a little organ called the osmeterium and it emits a foul smell for defensive purposes!

[arthropodopolis]

Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes

Black Swallowtail Caterpillar, Papilio polyxenes

This is an older larvae (caterpillar). It will soon be forming a chrysalis and transforming into a butterfly! A few fun facts:

The caterpillars have an orange forked gland on their heads that emerges when they feel threatened. It mimics a snakes tongue and also emits a foul smell to deter predators. It's called an osmeterium.

The caterpillar is sometimes called the "parsley worm" because it likes to eat parsley (as you can see in these photos!)

The genus name "papilio" is Latin for butterfly

The species name "polyxenes" has origins in Greek mythology. It is named after Polyxena, the daughter of King Priam of Troy.

[granny-e]

Black Swallowtail on Dill

[neclearsapphilleanlover]

I would date/love/cherish/hold/marry/spend the rest of my life with a mspec lesbian, mspec gays, mspec gaybians/lesbigays, turigirls, lesboys, straightbians, anybody with contradictory/paradox identities, boygirls, girlboys, gay women, lesbian men, she/her men, he/him women, abro lesbians/gays/gaybians etc, abro lesbians/gays/gaybians etc, plural lesbians/gays:gaybians etc, plural mspec lesbians/gays/gaybians etc,… /srs

a proud Polyfluidflux, polyxenic, enby, Aroacemid, Aroacevague, abro pan veldbian/gaybian

[heartnosekid]

eastern black swallowtail (papilio polyxenes) | butterflygardeninginspirations on ig

[jbkerkhoff]

A Break in the Texas Drought — Nature’s Resiliency

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

You know you are chonk when you eat so much that the stem you are standing on collapses. Good luck to these two black swallowtail cats who found a rogue bronze fennel in my raised bed and went to town on it! I wish you a speedy transition to pupation and adulthood!!

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Papilio polyxenes--Black Swallowtail Butterfly Part 2

And this the rest of my black swallowtail photos, at least that I have on hand.

The first flew off quickly and I just managed to get a shot of her in the leaves above. I'm barely touching the one I'm petting. I'm not even sure that was a good idea. She was one of my first. though, and she took off okay.

The one with the crumpled wings was unfortunately deformed. Thankfully a rare occurrence, but it does happen and is always very sad. They won't make it. You can't even keep them indoors and feed them on sugar water or honey because the proboscis isn't fused. So you either euthanize them or leave them to their short life in peace outside.

The one in the square container and the pupas with her are the last I ever raised. She literally hatched in a moving car. lol

Maybe again some day.

The adults pictured are all female.

[2t2r]

La chenille tigrée du papillon du céleri (machaon noir)

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/la-chenille-tigree-du-papillon-du-celeri-machaon-noir/

La chenille tigrée du papillon du céleri (machaon noir)

[herpsandbirds]

I found these caterpillars on my grandparents’ plants today. (They live in Central Texas.)

Caterpillar ID - TX, USA:

Hello, yes, these are the caterpillars of the Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), family Papilionidae.

[bugmuncherr]

BUG OF THE DAY

BotD 14 - 04/04/24

These are the many different caterpillar color morphs of the Banded Sphinx moth!

Today's BotD is specifically for these gorgeous caterpillars, but the adult moth of this species is also absolutely beautiful! (See below) It's not uncommon for caterpillars to have some standard variation in their colors- in fact, color morphs are quite common! Usually, these color morphs benefit the caterpillars because it makes sure that no matter what environment they're in, some caterpillars will have a camouflage advantage. My favorite example of this is in the species Papilio polyxenes, or the Eastern Black Swallowtail. Not only do the caterpillars of this species show up either fronting green and white, or fronting black, but the chrysalids of this species can also show up either leafy green, or tree bark brown. This, however, is a very unusual amount of color morphing! Not only are there many different variations of these caterpillars, but they are all drastically different in color! Which flavor is your favorite? Mine is strawberry-banana!

Thea why are all of these recent posts about moths? Because I'm being self-indulgent !! Gosh !!! Go treat yourselves

[exocynraku]

Hello!! Can i get bi + polyxenic (image below) for any/all of these characters?

- brightheart

- tawnypelt

- darkstripe

- leafpool

- hollyleaf

- runningnose

- nightstar (ShC)

- quince

- nutmeg

- ashfur (TC)

- mudclaw (WC)

- princess

- shadowsight

- feathertail

- stormfur

- leopardstar

- sol

- scourge

- sleekwhisker

I know it's a big request here but feel free to do as many or few as you like

rest (mudclaw, princess, shadow, feather, storm, leopard, sol, scourge, sleek) will be in reblog