![]() I'm in the nursery and I see some leaf damage to the Spicebushes ( Lindera bezoin) and start hunting for the culprit. ![]() So, let's rewind back to September of last year. The adult butterfly emerges to feed on the nectar of flowers and find a mate and the whole process starts over. Before the last skin shed the caterpillar anchors itself to a leaf, twig, brick, pot, or other stable surface with silk wires, and the hardened chrysalis hangs by these delicate wires for the duration of the transformation. They do this four or five times, and each new skin is called an 'instar.' Once they have grown sufficiently and stored enough leaf energy to pupate they shed one last skin and what emerges is a chrysalis in which the transformation to a butterfly is completed. Once the eggs hatch the caterpillars emerge and begin to eat, and eat, and eat the leaves of the host plant until they are large enough to shed a skin. Spicebush Swallowtails lay eggs exclusively on plants in the Lauraceae family (Magnolia Order), which includes Spicebush ( Lindera bezoin) Sassafras ( Sassafras albidum) Sweet Bay ( Magnolia virginiana) and Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipfera). Specialized chemical receptors in the forelegs can sense/taste/smell the leaf and its chemical exhalations and confirm or deny the host-worthiness of the plant. She uses her compound eyes to locate plants and then lands on a leaf and drums on it with her forelegs. The female, after mating with a male, will seek out an appropriate host plant on which to lay her eggs. Other butterflies will only lay eggs on specific plants such as the famous Monarch butterfly ( Danaus plexippus), which lays eggs on, and whose caterpillars eat only Milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.). This means that the caterpillars that hatch from the eggs could feed on the leaf of a rose, an apple tree, a hawthorn, a plum tree, or a strawberry plant and be perfectly happy and healthy. Some butterflies will lay eggs on a variety of plants, usually limited to a specific plant family, such as Rosaceae (Rose Family). This relationship is one of the most fascinating parts of the process. Some caterpillars, however, have more colors. Some are yellow with thin black stripes and black bands in each body segment. Deep black with some yellow and blue tails. Different colors are present in these species. Once they mate the females lay eggs on a suitable host plant. This black and white caterpillar with butterfly cartoon is a low quality preview. ![]() I was lucky enough to bear witness to such a process involving the Spicebush Swallowtail over the past 6-8 months, and, fortunately for you, I had my camera handy for most of it!Ī quick refresher lesson in butterfly life cycles: Adult butterflies feed on the nectar of a variety of plants to gain the energy to search for a mate. I’m ever amazed at the wonders of nature, which certainly include the life cycles of butterflies and I thoroughly enjoyed observing this one.One of the most rewarding aspects of planting a pollinator/wildlife garden is watching the life cycle of caterpillars and the resulting butterflies play out in your backyard. After a couple of hours, it’s wings were hardened, it took flight and was gone. Two weeks later it emerged from its chrysalis at the left of this image and became a mature buttefly. Zebra swallowtail butterfly and chrysalis One week later it was about one inch long, and it then made this chrysalis. At this stage it is about one-half inch long and feeding on paw-paw leaves, the only leaves it will eat. This is the zebra swallowtail caterpillar, which my friend, Connie brought to me. This photograph is special to me, because the butterfly is one I raised, and it was made shortly after the butterfly emerged from its chrysalis. And I have seen it in our Lexington, Kentucky, backyard twice in the last two years. I’ve often seen this butterfly while hiking woodland streams and watching for spring wildflowers. The Zebra swallowtail is one of my favorite butterflies.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |