Female Pipevine Swallowtail, Eggs, and Datana Major

9 years ago

I've noticed that a huckleberry bush/Vaccinium arborum near the road looked stripped, and I saw why today -

There are about a dozen or more of these caterpillars on the bush - there are several other huckleberry bushes nearby. I believe these caterpillars are Datana major/azalea datana, and they're fairly attractive, what with the red feet! :)

I've been raising some pipevine swallowtails in a big cage on the porch, and the last of them has purged, so I'm through feeding this group. A female was out in the garden about 5-7 days ago laying eggs, and they're starting to hatch today -

I thought she was pretty for a female, more blue on her hindwings than most. The vines are SO decimated from all the cats that have been chewing on them that I'm a bit worried I won't have enough food for them. These eggs were laid on some new growth coming up near the bottom of the edge of one group of vines, plus I've been seeing some more new growth on the rest of the vines, so maybe there will be enough to feed them - I've put cow manure mixed with a little chemical fertilizer around the vines, then watered it in to encourage more new growth. These are some hard working vines!

I think I'll raise these hatchlings myself. I enjoy it, and my track record of successfully getting them to maturity is better than theirs! :)

Sherry

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Comments (11)

Glen4sure
9 years ago
Gorgeous!!!
cecropia
9 years ago
Hi Sherry!

That Datana cat is really cool.I don't think they occur up here in Ohio.

I don't have any pipevine cats so my vines are huge and climbing all over the trees and shrubs in my yard.The only thing that eats them is the pesky rabbit that seems to think my yard is his salad bar. Actually I'm surprised it hasn't hurt him,as Aristolochia is supposed to be poisonous.
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Wow, it looks like she left you the mother lode there, Sherry! ;-) I think the most I ever had in a bunch was about 24. They're my very favorite caterpillar to raise. I love to put a few lengths of vine in a big storage container and watch the cats scurry along on their way to somewhere that I guess they have in mind. They always make it look like it's urgent. Ha. That's a Carolina wren for ya, building a nest in such a strange place. One year I had a pair build a nest on one of the shelves in my workshop after those little opportunists sneaked in there a few days when I had the door open and made themselves right at home. I didn't shut the door again until after the babies fledged. I have bluebird houses stacked up in our corncrib and one year the Carolina wrens made a nest in one of them even with it turned upside down. My dad had one build a nest in his fishing net one yet. Out of all of the birds that I get here, I call them the most eccentric. :) They sure are cute little things and they love the peanut butter/cornmeal/shortening mix that I put out in a log feeder for them in the winter. Cathy
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"Funny Sherry I was wondering the same thing about inbreeding, never have seen any mention of it when reading about captive breeding." When I showed up here almost 7 years ago, I took some people to task about the way they were releasing large numbers of inbred giant silk moths. That went over like a lead weight so I have pretty much kept my mouth shut since then. Ladobe criticized one of our members about it last year but no one followed up on it. The quote was "Besides weakening the gene pool, forced inbreeding produces low egg viability, high malformation risk and so therefore high mortality. Not a good practice." One consequence of moth inbreeding helped cause a shift in USDA policy last month. The USDA no longer regulates interstate shipments of Bombyx mori. Those moths are so inbred they can no longer survive in the wild. I raise relatively large numbers (up to 400 of one type) of Saturniidae every year. I go to great lengths to try to make sure the wild males that my girls mate with are not the brothers or the male first cousins that I released. I also try to make sure my released males and females do not mate with each other. I do this by doing releases at least 10 miles (usually more) from my house and releasing the females and males at least 10 miles (usually more) away from each other. I used to mark my males to make sure they were not finding their way home but quit being that paranoid after years of never getting one back. I release at least 10 miles away because 7 miles seems to be the generally accepted maximum distance that a male Saturniidae can follow a female's pheromones. That said, I have seen a claim that male giant silk moths can follow female pheromones for "nearly 30" miles. YMMV I preface my next statement by saying I have no clue how this guy operates. There is a guy in Ohio that raises 3k-4k cecropias each year. I read that he has been raising them since '86. Something wiped out his cats in 2008 and he had to start over in 2009. I'm real curious if inbreeding affected his setup and I'd like to know what happens to all the moths he doesn't sell (IOW, do they get let go). As for inbreeding butterflies and affecting the gene pool, there is a lot of info/controversy on the net about it because of people raising butterflies for mass release at weddings. One related article I have posted before is linked at the end of this post. Last thought: I know of one inbred butterfly that has been studied a lot: monarchs on Hawaii. I believe around 20% of them are white now. My guess is they do alright because the favorable weather conditions don't put a lot of stress on them. They would probably have trouble with migrating to Mexico and surviving the winters there. Anyway, there is a lot of research out there about them. KC Here is a link that might be useful: All Aflutter
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Leafhead
9 years ago
If rabbits eat Milkweed (which really shocked me), they'll eat just about anything. Try dog hair around your plants and that will repel them. Most dog grooming salons will gladly give you their sweepings. I'm also experimenting with planting Marigolds around everything new. That is supposed to repel them as well.

John
MissSherry
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Dan, long time no hear from!

My vines climb on the chain link fence around my garden, and, so far, that's kept the rabbits off them. They eat a lot of my other prized plants in the woods, though, so I think I'll put some dog hair around plants I want saved - I have three long haired dogs. I never knew that would work, but I'll try anything. Maybe it'll keep the deer off, too?

Do you still raise caterpillars, Dan, I mean, other than pipevine swallowtails?

Sherry
rickinla
9 years ago
Congratulations on the abundance of Pipevine Swallowtails Sherry. I think I have an abundance of predators, I've only seen a few PVSTs since the initial visit a while back. Do you have any idea what these guys are? There are a lot of them and they don't seem to be looking for nectar.
MissSherry
Original Author
9 years ago
I don't know, Rick. It looks like some type of wasp, but it's not the regular type with the red/yellow legs. Probably somebody will know on the Insect Forum or somebody on Name that Bug or What's that Bug, whatever the site is.

If you want some pipevine swallowtail eggs in the future, let me know, and if I get more than I can handle, I'll give you some of the eggs or caterpillars.

Sherry
rickinla
9 years ago
Thanks for the offer, hopefully one the few that made it to adulthood will come back and lay some eggs. I'm just not seeng many butterflies of any type yet. I have plenty to feed them when they show up. I did find out that Pipevines are not poisonous to horses since one of my miniature mares ate two small vines to the ground.
bernergrrl
9 years ago
That is an incredible looking caterpillar!
cecropia
9 years ago
I don't have a dog but can get dog hair from a relative who has a German Shepherd that's shedding now.

Yes,Sherry,I still raise various lep species,though last year was kinda slow and this year isn't much better so far.Right now I've got a bunch of third instar cecropias,some lunas,a spicebush and three monarchs.Already raised and released some red admirals and only one was parasitized.

If you get more pipevine eggs than you can handle,feel free to send some up here.Will trade for whatever I have but you probably already have it.

Dan
roper2008
9 years ago
Isn't it interesting that the caterpillar is much more dramatic
looking than the butterfly.
Sherry you are the butterfly queen. So many varieties there in Mississippi.
MissSherry
Original Author
9 years ago
I'm glad you're still raising cats, Dan!

There are a good many moths whose caterpillars are beautiful, while the adult moths are plain brown things, roper. Some of the slug caterpillars, like the stinging rose cats, are quite beautiful - the adults aren't.

Here's a picture I made several years ago of a dagger moth cat that I thought was quite fetching -

{{gwi:461311}}

The little pipevine swallowtail caterpillars are growly rapidly, and I released my first adult PVS from the second batch of 2014 today, a female. This will be my third batch! We've had a lot of rain lately, so maybe the pipevines will be able to keep up.

Sherry

Female Pipevine Swallowtail, Eggs, and Datana Major

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Female Pipevine Swallowtail, Eggs, and Datana Major

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