Pipevine Cats from RickinLA and other Leps
A few days ago, I got some pipevine swallowtail caterpillars from RickinLA - his property is gorgeous! Here's a picture of some of them in one of my cages on the porch -
Thanks, Rick!
I'm very excited to have found what is most likely a palamedes swallowtail caterpillar on some sprouts from a dead red bay -
The fact that the white on the end of its body doesn't show a dark area, plus it hasn't made a nest marks it as undoubtedly a palamedes, which is great! There was a spider nearby, so I brought this hatchling to a cage, where there's a little spicebush swallowtail in its cut-leaf nest -
Here's a real small red admiral nest I just found yesterday -
I'll probably bring it into the cage with the other red admiral this evening -
The weather is still cool at night and too windy (though not as bad as it was) for me, but, oh well, nothing's perfect!
Sherry
Comments (13)
Iris S (SC, Zone 7b)
7 years ago
Tom
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Odes and Leps
Comments (71)Jeanner, We are pretty much in the middle of North Florida. About 90 miles west of Jacksonville. We are just supposed to get lots of rain and some wind. And sometimes with this we lose power for a few days. Lots of very old trees that sometimes fall on lines due to the weight of the water and the wind. We don't anticipate any problems since we have generators and we don't have trees near the house. I might have to dump some water from the pond a few times, but that isn't a problem. Florida will probably develope some sinkholes from this, which can be very scary at times. Glenda...See MoreYay.......got some pipevine cats
Comments (7)Sometimes they wander to other places near the host plant or away from prying Bird eyes, in order shed their skin. If that's the case, you'll see them again in a day or so. It is true that they could have been attacked by predators, such as spiders, wasps, stink bugs, damsel flies, assassin beetles, praying semantics, etc. Birds usually avoid their toxic flavor. Susan...See Morepipevine cat query...bear with me, I'm a relative newbie
Comments (10)Well guess what, Misssherry! I went out last evening, thinking I'd comb the area in the woods where I saw the cat on the road. There was a line of storms coming in on us so I knew I did not have much time. I had not even entered the woods when I heard the thunder approaching, and decided to wait until I had more time/better light to do my looking. I was scurrying across the YARD, and happened to see a very small plant at the base of a hickory that had the right sort of leaf pattern, so I plucked it close to the ground and kept going ahead of the rain. You know what I'm about to say. It's Virginia snakeroot. And not only that, but there are three red eggs in a tight cluster and one by itself out on a leaf, all on the ventral side. SO now that I have potentially screwed things up for these cats, I'm hopefully doing the right thing for a change... I have the plant in a glass of water and watching it closely for signs of hatching. Am I assuming correctly that they are ST eggs....seems like I saw a link somewhere with them on it... THis is an area of the yard that was formally an attempt as grass, which in the woods is rather a silly endeavor. And unnatural as well. I quit mowing much of anything here about 4 years ago and now there is a thick blanket of virginia creeper, wildflowers, and young elm seedlings. I had not expected the snakeroot to be that diminutive and I'd been walking right past it, as it's only about 4-5 inches tall with 4 leaves. And honestly I was really expecting to come across a vine that had been overlooked. So now I know....but I wonder why I see so few of the adults? THey are close in size to a zebra, right? thanks again for the help...I learn something every day!!...See Morepipevine swallowtail cats
Comments (11)I was confused at first - my first Polys were the lighter ones. I thought the darker ones came when I brought the eggs inside to raise the cats. But I have since discover that it makes no difference if they are outside or inside. And to top it off the chrysalsis can be green if near the vine or brown if on a fence or tree. Mother Nature has her own ways! To answer your question they will be the same color butterfly - black with yellow around the edges and no tails. They are the only swallowtail we have here that doesn't have tails. The underside has reddish orange on it - no blue. So if you see a butterfly that has blue on the underside it is a Pipevine - and the top is dark with a bluish cast and small white spots near the edges. They also fly differntly than the Polys - slower and less "playful". I am watching 5 Polys right now - chasing each other and a Monarch, diving over the fence and through the Crape Myrtles - where they roost at night. They have been nectaring on my Jatropha Multifidia and Mexican Sunflowers (Tithonia) this summer. They are one of my favorites since they were the first type that I purposely brought into my garden close to 10 years ago. I started with a Pipevine stem with one leaf on it and now have it everywhere. Even though I love to raise the Pipevine Swallowtails and have done so successfully the last couple of years - they are just not as easy to raise and they are solitary butterflies - you seldom see more than one at at time - Polys are gregarious and hang together all day long. They just make me smile! If you do get Pipevine Swallowtails, you can order from Mail Order Natives A. Frimbrata or A. Tomentosa and transfer the eggs or cats to it. They are both slow growers and it took me a couple of years to get it established large enough to put outside. This year I have one growing up one post of my pergola and it is pretty thick. I haven't seen a Pipevine recently - had 3 that overwintered that I released earlier and did raise a couple after that. Polys usually lay large clusters of eggs - I have had up to 18 babies all together on one leaf. Seldom do I find that many of the Pipevine and they are usually on the leaves or stems but not as many. Some people say the have had orange eggs that were Polys but I haven't here. Once you see the caterpillars when they are a couple days old, you will know the difference right away - the Pipevine are smaller and the body is more tapered and they just don't get as big. The horns are more obvious on the Pipevine. Hope this helps. Sorry for the long response - I just love talking about butterflies!...See MoreMissSherry
7 years ago
Mary Leek
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agogardenfullofswallowtails
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMissSherry
7 years agoMary, I got a lot of blooms/'pipes' this year, too, and there are still more blooms coming. Unfortunately, I've NEVER had a seed pod, would love to get one just to see what one looks like.
The pipevine swallowtail cats have been making their chrysalides, so now I'm only feeding about 8-10 of them. Their purge still has that unmistakable odor!
I've had two spicebush swallowtail chrysalides that overwintered that I thought would never emerge. Well, one did today, a female -
The other one still looks healthy. Actually, looking at the size of it, it may be a palamedes swallowtail, guess I'll find out when it emerges! Butterfly time tables are so erratic!
Sherry
rickinla
7 years ago
theparsley
7 years agoMissSherry
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoMe, too, Parsley!
I routinely look through red bay leaves on the stump sprouts from the many dead red bays on my property and haven't found any caterpillars or eggs on the leaves of the former tree in my front yard area. But I looked down today and saw this -
This palamedes cat is several instars beyond what the other one was when I found it, and the two of them are about the same size now. I don't know how I miss them! 'Sure hope this one hasn't been parasitized! For those of you not in the Deep South, it may seem silly to be so excited about a given caterpillar, but I've really worried for the past year that palamedes swallowtails would become extinct, due to the loss of their host plant. By the way, I found a reasonably large red bay in the woods that's still alive and making new growth - knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder! Wouldn't it be wonderful if this one was resistant to the dreaded ambrosia beetle? They probably just missed this one, but I'd be thrilled if it were true.
Sherry
P.S.
I also found another red admiral nest and my first American lady nest. Here's the American lady nest -
Sherry
Tom
7 years agoMissSherry
7 years agoTom
7 years ago
MissSherryOriginal Author