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Butterfly Garden

Pipevine Swallowtail Eggs!

15 years ago

I've been going out to my garden in the middle of the day every day hoping to find a female out there laying eggs, with no luck. I've only gotten one small group of cats this year - about 15 or so - and it was getting pretty depressing. I've been taking care of my A. tomentosas, cutting them back, fertilizing them with chicken manure and liming them, and they've got a lot of nice new growth on them.

When I went out today, I saw the underside of a pipevine swallowtail, and I thought it looked like a female, but I've been disappointed before. But today the butterfly was mostly black with a black body and those big white spots on the forewings! She's not as pretty as a male, but she looked beautiful to me - I got her picture -

{{gwi:504969}}
I've found two small clusters of eggs so far, and by the way she's continuing to nectar furiously, I imagine she'll lay quite a few more clusters. Now I'm really glad I took care of the pipevines!

Sherry

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Comments (9)

bananasinohio
15 years ago
Wonderful! That black and blue against the red pentas is beautiful. Our little piggies are big now and starting to wander. I just love them!

Cheers,
Elisabeth
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nebu
15 years ago
Beautiful photo, I still have NOT seen one in my zone yet.

Same here, I have a healthy vine I grew from seed, but I carelessly put it in a more sunny area and it sort of is declining.
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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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Beth & Sherry, Thank you for your kind words. We are safe and things can be repaired or replaced. My photos and family mementos are safe so I feel blessed. It could have been far worse. Firemen were amazing and so professional. Insurance company also extremely helpful and professional. Everyone test your smoke alarms; they save lives. I have two pots of fimbriata in the greenhouse that are waiting for warm weather to be planted out. I also let most seeds fall in the patch so hoping for some new germination. Don't know, with such long freezes this winter, might have killed the seed and original plants. Will be interesting to see if anything survives of these little vines. We had long periods of below freezing conditions. Noticed yesterday pipevines are putting out leaves! Spring has finally arrived in my area. Mary
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It takes a long time (or at least mine did) for A. tomentosa to 'volunteer' as my mother-in-law used to say. If you don't want the volunteers, you can either mow over them or pull them up (as Mary suggested), cut them and feed them to your pipevine swallowtail caterpillars elsewhere (I do this), or you can dig them up and baby them in a pot until they get settled, then, either give them to friends or plant them somewhere else in your own garden. My first PVS butterflies from this year's crop emerged this morning, both females. These came from caterpillars I got from Rick in Alabama. It's so windy, I hate to release them today, and tomorrow we're supposed to have big rain, so I'm trying to decide when to release them, a good problem! :) Sherry
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susanlynne48
15 years ago
Beautiful, MissSherry! I have not had PVSs for 3 years now; don't know why, but I have my hands full right now anyway. Your red pentas look pretty, too! Don't know if I will get Tersas or not this year; they tend to show up every 3 years or so.

Susan
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MissSherry
Original Author
15 years ago
This is the first year I've NOT had tersas or tobacco hornworms, Susan. I miss the tersas!
The female pipevine swallowtail was back out in the garden today, she went up to some new growth on the pipevines, went through the motions briefly, then flew off! She did the same thing yesterday - ????
I made this picture of one of the little clusters of eggs -
{{gwi:540579}}
Sherry
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MissSherry
Original Author
15 years ago
My mama PVS laid two more batches of eggs, one at the spot where she "faked" it yesterday. She takes SO much time examining each leaf between nectaring - she is certainly particular about where her babies will be born!
I released all the pipevine swallowtails I've raised this year between August 2nd and August 7th - I know, because I've kept records this year. One of my males emerged with a dog-eared right wing - I know he wasn't one of the last day's releases, and I think he left on the 5th or 6th. I was concerned at first that he wasn't going to be able to fly right, but he did and still is. He continues to nectar in my garden, and I always know which one he is because of his distinctive right wing. I've read in various books that butterflies don't live very long, with some, like buckeyes, supposedly only living a week. Well, ole DogEar still looks pretty good to be a month old. He finally stayed still (basking) long enough for me to make his picture. I've always thought that pipevine swallowtails lived longer than other butterflies, and DogEar is making me think I was right - he looks like he might live another month, don't you think?
{{gwi:540581}}
Sherry
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MissSherry
Original Author
15 years ago
The first two batches of pipevine swallowtail eggs have hatched. I trimmed back, fertilized and watered some A. tomentosa and A. macrophylla that doesn't have any eggs on it - I'm going to need all the leaves I can get!
Here's one little batch -
{{gwi:540583}}
Sherry
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susanlynne48
15 years ago
Does A. tomentosa grow better than A. macrophylla for you, MissSherry? It does for me, so I was just wondering if macrophylla was a better pipevine for the north.

Susan
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MissSherry
Original Author
15 years ago
A. tomentosa has grown better for me, Susan, but I only have a few A. macrophyllas - it might be their location.
Still, if I ever order more, it'll be A. tomentosa! :)
Sherry
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weed30 St. Louis
15 years ago
Awww... I love ole DogEar! How gratifying to know for sure that one that you raised has claimed your home as his home :)
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