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Post by rockpickerforever on Jul 14, 2016 16:45:48 GMT -5
It's not like I have a bunch of spare time, but I am just naturally curious. In early July, I watched as a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus) flitted through my yard, landed on a leaf in the navel orange tree, and laid an egg.
From Wiki, looks like on a cherry tree 
I reached up into the tree, found a leaf with an egg attached and picked it off. I brought it into the house, and put it into a small jar. It actually hatched the very same afternoon! Since it should have taken four days or so to hatch, I can only surmise that it had been laid there previously. Never could find that other egg...
Anyway, I went online to get some more info about the butterfly and it's larva. Now I already knew that the Monarch butterfly larvae eat milkweed plants (their "host" plant). Was unsure what the swallowtails preferred to eat. But since the egg was laid on a citrus, figured that's most likely what they eat. Sure enough, citrus is just one of several that they will feed on. Unlike the Monarch, they have varied tastes, and are not limited to just one type of host plant.
When the egg hatched out, the larvae was tiny, less than 1/16th of an inch. But they can really put away the food - they are efficient eating machines! - and so they grow pretty fast. When small, they are camouflaged as a piece of bird shit. I guess it works! It still looks like a POS now, only bigger, but it is changing. 
Didn't even think to get a picture of it when it first hatched.
After a few days. 
Right now it is about 1 1/4 inch long. The information online said it will eat for about ten days until the next instar, but I think it will take longer than that. We'll see. 
It's now too big for the little jar, so picked up a plastic enclosure at the swapmeet. 
Feeding it orange and grapefruit leaves. 
I should have been taking photos more frequently, as it is rapidly getting larger, but also changing body shape and color. It has tiny blue spots on its dorsal side. These are much more obvious in the photos than they are when looking directly at it. Photo not color altered, straight from camera. 
As a caterpillar, they go through five developmental stages called instars. By the time it gets full size and ready to pupate, it will be green with large (fake) eyespots for faking out/startling predators.
Something else I did not know about them is they have an appendage that everts out of their head that looks like orange antenna! 
This is also used as a deterrent to predators. It is not visible unless you provoke them. I saw it for the first time when I moved it from the small jar to the larger enclosure. They also emit a scent when doing so. To me, it smelled like citrus - no surprise - since that is what it is eating. Sweet, anyway. From one of the websites:
Definitely red/orange on this caterpillar, yellow on the Monarchs. There is more info on raising Monarchs than Swallowtails, but it's all pretty much the same.
Once the swallowtail caterpillar has formed a chrysalis, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to months to emerge. If it starts to pupate late in the year, it may not "eclose" (learned a new word!) until the following spring. Unpredictable.
Will try to take photos and post updates of its progress. An interesting diversion, lol.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2016 17:56:08 GMT -5
Bad@ss!!!
How fun is that?
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Post by Pat on Jul 14, 2016 18:32:25 GMT -5
Cool! At first glance, I thought the orange antennae were carrot sticks, and wondered why you would do that!
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jul 14, 2016 19:42:29 GMT -5
Cool. Butterflies amazing with their changing states.
Tasty too !
the antenna photo is a bit scary. Insects from the monster valley.
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Post by spiceman on Jul 14, 2016 23:17:24 GMT -5
Well, even if you do have a bunch of spare time the pics are cool and the info is very nice too know.
If anybody says you have too much time on your hands, they are jealous because they can't do that.
Nice job
Dale
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quartz
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breakin' rocks in the hot sun
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Post by quartz on Jul 15, 2016 0:10:12 GMT -5
Interesting story, thanks. We have lots of those butterflies fluttering by, nice to see.
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jul 15, 2016 6:30:37 GMT -5
instars
everts
Adds to vocabulary
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2016 9:28:17 GMT -5
instars everts Adds to vocabulary Eclose |
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jamesp
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Post by jamesp on Jul 15, 2016 12:26:46 GMT -5
instars everts Adds to vocabulary Eclose erlenmeyer ? |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jul 15, 2016 12:32:41 GMT -5
Pat Carrots? Lol.
Thanks, Dale spiceman . I suppose being accused of having too much spare time is not something I am going to lose sleep over.
Glad you liked the show, Larry quartz . Always enjoy show-and-tell when other people enjoy it.
Cool. Butterflies amazing with their changing states. Tasty too ! the antenna photo is a bit scary. Insects from the monster valley.
Yuk! James, I seriously doubt you would want to eat this thing. Some of them can be pretty nasty tasting. Pretty to look at, tho'. And that osmeterium freaked me out the first time I saw it. A still photos just doesn't have the same effect as a video of it popping out would. Maybe I can get a cell phone video of it. Hmmm....
instars everts Adds to vocabulary Eclose Exactly, Scott! I was going to mention eclose as well. Sounds like something you would do approximately 30 days after purchasing property through the internet or something. (Ecommerce, esurance, et al, ad nauseum...) Though I'm sure the term has been in use by the squints long before the internet was even a gleam in anyone's eye. Also osmeterium. Lot's of kool science words... I was thinking of something else when I used the term "everts" but it is not germain to this discussion, lol. It does, however describe how the caterpillar quickly presents the osmeterium to scare off a predator. |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Jul 21, 2016 17:03:53 GMT -5
My caterpillar has gone through the five instars, and has pupated.
Tuesday (7/20/16) evening, it had started clinging to the side of the enclosure, gripping on a crack in the plastic. It started laying down silk threads on the wall to give it something to hold onto. It even spun a "safety harness" to help it stay upright. 
Silk it has applied to give it a good grip.
Here you can see its "safety harness" better. (OSHA would be proud!)
Overnight, it split the skin as it was changing, and the empty eyes and skin fell to the cage floor. How I found it this morning. The last four photos taken today, 7/21/16.
Looks like a little fox, lol.
This is the no longer needed skin and old eyeball covers.
Final look.
Now I just have to wait two weeks or so before it emerges as a glorious Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly!
I never did report back on the Buck Moth caterpillar I was watching a while back. It did emerge form its chrysalis, but died. It was not able to fully open up its wings and stiffen them up.
I hope better things for this one!
Jean
ETA - It never did turn green with big fake eyes like the information online said it would. Guess it didn't read the manual.
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Post by Pat on Jul 21, 2016 19:28:14 GMT -5
Impatiently waiting!!
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Post by victor1941 on Jul 21, 2016 19:44:56 GMT -5
Your article and clear pictures are really inspirational. I also enjoy the giant swallowtails that flit around the orange trees adjacent to our house in Austin, Tx. I was equally surprised citrus was a host plant. My no spray policy also helps give a long season for reproduction.
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Post by spiceman on Jul 21, 2016 22:33:33 GMT -5
Very interesting.
Nobody has ever reported this much info with pics, unless you buy the right books.
Are you writing a book?
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 9, 2016 12:38:46 GMT -5
Sorry, no, spiceman . Just doing it for the experience, lol.
I almost wasn't going to post this update, but maybe someone else will learn from it. The metamorphosed butterfly eclosed from the chrysalis on August 3. Unfortunately, its wings never did fully unfurl and stiffen. Once again, it did not read the manual, which would have informed it that it was supposed to hang from the chrysalis (upside down) to let gravity assist it with the wings opening and stiffening up. I found it (in the bottom of the cage) already hatched one morning when I got up, no idea how much time had elapsed since it had emerged.
Once it became apparent that it was doomed, I looked online for information. It seems this happens a lot in nature. They MUST get those wings pumped up within an hour of emerging. While I was a little bummed about it, I was nowhere near as upset as the lady that had posted on the blog I was reading. She "humanely euthanized" her damaged butterfly by putting it in a bag in the freezer. I put mine out in the orange tree where the hatched egg had been found. I'm sure it was snatched up by a passing bird, Mother Nature can be cruel at times. At least it got to be free for a short while.
Looking down into the empty case.
Timeline: 7/6/17 - Found freshly hatched egg in navel orange tree. 7/20/16 - started to pupate 8/3/16 - eclosed from chrysalis
Two weeks as caterpillar, two weeks as chrysalis. Four weeks start to finish.
I would do it again if I have the opportunity.
Lesson learned. Always provide something for the butterfly to hang from on the ceiling of the cage, and a way to get to it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 15:28:05 GMT -5
I am going out on a limb here (citrus for sure) to say that: I believe moths and butterflies pupated in captivity fail to pump up their wings due to insufficient blood volume. That said, I think the pupa must also have plenty of humidity to have success. If not when it ecloses the wings will fail. Seen this in raising tomato hornworms. Success came when I continued to put leaves in the chamber while the pupa was doing its thing. After this they all started to develop properly. Oughta be time for the next batch of eggs to be laid in your trees. you found one, now go look in that type of place again, get more...  |
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Post by Pat on Aug 9, 2016 18:09:00 GMT -5
@shotgunner. You deliberately raised tomato hornworms???!  ?!! |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2016 18:25:05 GMT -5
@shotgunner. You deliberately raised tomato hornworms???! ?!! Ultimately by the 1000's!!! Lizard food. |
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 10, 2016 15:53:43 GMT -5
I am going out on a limb here (citrus for sure) to say that: I believe moths and butterflies pupated in captivity fail to pump up their wings due to insufficient blood volume. That said, I think the pupa must also have plenty of humidity to have success. If not when it ecloses the wings will fail. Seen this in raising tomato hornworms. Success came when I continued to put leaves in the chamber while the pupa was doing its thing. After this they all started to develop properly. Oughta be time for the next batch of eggs to be laid in your trees. you found one, now go look in that type of place again, get more... I'm sure you are right! No fresh leaves (and increased humidity) for two weeks. Will have to keep adding fresh leaves despite it not eating them. It pupated just before we went out of town for a week, had been wondering how to keep it fed during that time. I guess I should have just put a bunch of leaves in anyway, not for it to eat, but to keep it more humid.
I have been watching for more butterflies coming through, and looking for eggs. Saw one at my dad's on the tip top of his tangerine tree. But I couldn't see an egg after it flew away.  I'll keep watching!
Thanks for the tip, Scott!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2016 16:27:09 GMT -5
I am going out on a limb here (citrus for sure) to say that: I believe moths and butterflies pupated in captivity fail to pump up their wings due to insufficient blood volume. That said, I think the pupa must also have plenty of humidity to have success. If not when it ecloses the wings will fail. Seen this in raising tomato hornworms. Success came when I continued to put leaves in the chamber while the pupa was doing its thing. After this they all started to develop properly. Oughta be time for the next batch of eggs to be laid in your trees. you found one, now go look in that type of place again, get more... I'm sure you are right! No fresh leaves (and increased humidity) for two weeks. Will have to keep adding fresh leaves despite it not eating them. It pupated just before we went out of town for a week, had been wondering how to keep it fed during that time. I guess I should have just put a bunch of leaves in anyway, not for it to eat, but to keep it more humid.
I have been watching for more butterflies coming through, and looking for eggs. Saw one at my dad's on the tip top of his tangerine tree. But I couldn't see an egg after it flew away. I'll keep watching!
Thanks for the tip, Scott!
You did something I never was able to do. Collect a wild butterfly egg, hatch it, pupate it, and get a butterfly. I have tried a few times and failed miserably every time. One small adjustement is all you need for success. Soon you can be breeding swallowtails for release at weddings! |
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?!!
I'll keep watching!
