The polydamas swallowtail butterflies continue to have a record year in our butterfly house. In 11 days, 81 have emerged, and that’s just in our butterfly house. I have found numerous empty chrysalis scattered throughout the garden.
Although the host plants are slowly growing back, the Dutchman pipe and birthwort, it is not stopping them from flying through the garden every day finding nectar sources.
My influx of polydamas swallowtail caterpillars have almost all went into their chrysalis.
There are a few left still munching away on some Dutchman pipe, their host plant.
Today, on this glorious 4th of July, the first of probably dozens, has emerged.
This one marks 169 that we have successfully raised and released. Since it did not want to leave my finger, I left it on my purpletop vervain, which is doing incredibe with our daily down pours, so it can fly away when ready
Thank goodness for good friends and their abundance of Dutchman Pipe . . . my explosion of polydamas swallowtail caterpillars have more food!
It’s the little things that make me smile, such as going to my friends house to cut some of her Dutchman pipe to feed my caterpillars and finding some on hers as well. Another perk of butterfly gardening, sharing – both plant cuttings and caterpillars – so more can enjoy watching the lifecycle.
Best part, my little buddy, who was super excited to find a polydamas swallowtail walking down my sidewalk while he was over, is raising a couple dozen for me, so they continue to have plenty of food.
Never in all the years I have had a butterfly garden has the polydamas swallowtail population exploded to this amount. There’s probably close to 100 caterpillars!
These butterflies are having a record year, and now it’s host plant needs new growth, so they lifecycle can start all over again.
The polydamas swallowtail has been a regular visitor these past few weeks. They are swift flyers, making them hard to capture in photographs while flying. Well, today, out of 143 photographs, I was able to pick out quite a few that made me smile.
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 polydamas swallowtail in the photographs below is laying eggs on one of the two birthwort plants in the garden. Right now this plant is thick with lots of growth, while my three Dutchman pipe are needing time to grow back from the last set of caterpillars.
The polydamas swallowtail, otherwise known as the gold rim swallowtail, is an incredibly fast flyer. The wings are constantly going. This swallowtail continued to fly in and get a quick snack from the Panama rose before taking off again.
The Dutchman pipe, its host plant, was incredibly impressive at the Cape Coral-Lee County Public Library butterfly garden. There were tons of flowers and it expanded a good portion of the fence. The polydamas never let mine grow enough before it’s egg bombed and chewed all the way down again. If you looked hard enough, there were tons of caterpillars in the plant.
