The polydamas swallowtail caterpillars are so neat to watch. First they attach a silk pad with its terminal prolegs, so it can hang from its silk girdle before they finish their chrysalis. Depending on where they create their chrysalis it can be either green, or brown. The ones on the Dutchman pipe are green, while the others on the enclosure are brown to match the wood.
The orange barred sulphur has been visiting the garden daily this week, leaving tons of eggs behind on our Bahama Cassia tree. I absolutely adore this butterfly because it is such a ray of sunshine while flying.
I have read that the orange barred sulphur is the largest southeastern sulphur. The females are also larger than the male. Now that we are in the summer months, the female is orange yellow with dark molting coloring.
These butterflies are incredibly fast in flight and can be very hard to photograph. So I was excited when I got some good ones of her laying eggs.
I planted butterfly weed, a native member of the milkweed family quite a few months ago. I am happy to say I have had tons of success growing it in little grow pots in a screened enclosure.
Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa, refers to the knobby and swelling roots. The native milkweed can be found from “Maine, to South Dakota to the desert southwest to Florida,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.
I found it interesting that the butterfly weed has a watery, translucent sap, rather than the milky sap other varieties of milkweed have. In addition, I have read it does not transplant well, due to its deep woody taproot. I currently have all of mine in pots to see how they do. If I have success, I will definitely section off the garden and plant more seeds directly into the ground with a cover over them.
One of my plants has grown to a good size, while the others are still short. It has not flowered yet, but has beautiful green leaves. Today I spotted quite a few black eggs, which means it will soon be graced with monarch caterpillars, only enabling it to grow fuller and more beautiful once the chomping concludes.
First a sip of nectar, then she went off to lay eggs on another milkweed leaf.
The polydamas, also known as the gold rim swallowtail, tailless swallowtail and scientific name Battus polydamas lucayus, lays its eggs on the Dutchman pipe. This is the only swallowtail that lacks the tails at the base of the secondary wings, according to the University of Florida.
This species can be found throughout peninsular Florida, as well as in the Florida Keys. There are some that wander as far north as Missouri and Kentucky.
The polydamas lays yellow to orange eggs in clusters of 10 to 14, which can typically be spotted on newly developed stems, or growing tips, of the Dutchman pipe.
The butterfly tends to lay its eggs on the Dutchman pipe that are in sunny areas, although the caterpillars have a higher survival rate in the shade. The eggs can be yellow to orange in color and 1 mm in diameter. As they mature the eggs will turn a greenish color as the larvae develop.
The polydamas swallowtail caterpillars feed in groups when they are small, devouring the youngest leaves, as well as flowers before moving onto the older portions of the Dutchman pipe.
The caterpillar will go through four instars, 19 to 24 days, before it’s ready to form its chrysalis. The colors of the caterpillars are a bit different during the first instar, with tan and small tubercles. Once the caterpillar molts into the second instar, they become dark brown with larger tubercles.
There are quite a few polydamas caterpillars of every instar in the garden, with a few of the larger ones brought into the butterfly house.
