The baby polydamas swallowtail caterpillars are in abundance on my Dutchman pipe. There are more on the other side of the leaf, a total of 9.
Babies are here
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Category Archives: Dutchman pipe
Molting
A few of the polydamas swallowtail caterpillars were in their molting process on the Dutchman pipe this morning. They will most likely consume their exoskeleton to conserve its nutrients.
These guys will grow up to 2.1″ in length and typically take 19 to 24 days to go through their four instars. There are definitely a few that are nearing that final stage before chrysalis.
Finishing up
My beautiful, lush Dutchman pipe has been chewed down to almost nothing as the polydamus swallowtail caterpillars continue to go through all their instars. There were quite a few that were brought into our butterfly house, with many finally finishing up its caterpillar stage, getting rid of the last of its waste, creating its silken girdle and creating its either green, or brown chrysalis.
We have six that have made its silken girdle, getting ready to finish off its chrysalis. There are two very close to each other with a monarch caterpillar hiding in the below photo. We had quite a few caterpillars decide to make its chrysalis on a milkweed. I guess the plant will be staying in the butterfly house for a good two weeks.
So far we have three chrysalis as of this morning from this batch of caterpillars. There are eight caterpillars still either eating or finding their destination to start their chrysalis. The polydamas are certainly taking over our butterfly house right now.
As always, click on the link for more information and photos of the polydamas swallowtail: https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/polydamas-swallowtail-butterfly/?frame-nonce=f0243aad30
Baby caterpillars everywhere
I found so many baby polydamas caterpillars in the garden this morning. Just briefly scanning the Dutchman pipe, I found four different clusters of caterpillars, which at this stage of its instar is incredibly common. They explore on their own when they get larger.
I now have three different Dutchman pipe plants thriving in the garden, all vining up an archway and across a rope meeting together. The abundance of large green leaves, I am sure will soon disappear as the caterpillars continue to grow.
Be sure to check my polydamas butterfly page for more information about the life cycle, which of course shows many photos from our gardens:
https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/polydamas-swallowtail-butterfly/
Eggs galore
The polydamas swallowtail has been busy laying clusters of eggs on our Dutchman pipe: one of two I found just today. The eggs are about 1 mm in diameter and will look greenish as they mature, ready to hatch, which takes up to six days. According to the University of Florida, the eggs are covered by a “hard, nutritious secretion,” which are laid in vertical bands.
The larger polydamas caterpillars in our butterfly house have been crawling around finding the perfect place to make its chrysalis. This one did not like me getting close, as its osmeterium shot out when I neared. According to the University of Florida, the osmeteria, located on the anterior of the prothorax, is bright orange, and used as defense.