The eastern black swallowtail caterpillars almost finished all of the dill in the butterfly house last night. Three are still on the plant and one has ventured off exploring the butterfly house.
I love going on a “treasure” hunt daily in the garden to find the newest hatched caterpillars, as well as the growth of others. It’s so rewarding to bring them inside our butterfly house to really watch their growth. This particular species has been great to watch as it has changed so drastically since it first hatched.
Other eastern black swallowtail posts with further information on species and photographs:
Two of the four black eastern swallowtails were molting in the butterfly house, one of which was consuming its old skin.
The molting takes place because their skin does not grow as they consume more leaves from their host plant. So, to have enough room, the caterpillar first grows new skin underneath before it sheds its old skin. The new exoskeleton is first soft before hardening to protect the caterpillar. The caterpillars below are, I believe, in their third, or fourth instar.
There are three pairs of true legs of a caterpillar, as well as five “pro-legs” that function the same. Interesting fact, the true legs eventually turn into the butterfly’s legs and the pro-legs vanish during metamorphosis.
Another interesting fact: the caterpillar consists of strong jaws, which are connected to a digestive tube that has an opening for the caterpillar’s waste. It’s crazy to think that a caterpillar consumes twice its body weight in a day.
Other eastern black swallowtail posts with further information on species and photographs:
I am happy to say the eastern black swallowtail caterpillars are still going strong.
I put brand new dill in the butterfly house, as they completely ate the four cuttings I initially put in there.
The “white saddle” has disappeared on all four caterpillars. Interesting, they have all found a different part of the dill for tonight, which has been different from previous nights.
Other eastern black swallowtail posts with further information on species and photographs:
The eastern black swallowtail caterpillars are changing and growing and its so fascinating to watch.
This eastern black swallowtail has been called the parsley caterpillar, and has been known as a nuisance, as it feeds on parsley and dill. They can feed on dill in my garden, no problem.
These caterpillars also have their little horns, which they have already displayed. It’s called osmeteria and is located at the back of its head. When extended it lets out an awful odor into the air, which I have yet to smell.
Interesting fact: swallowtail butterflies often have black wings, as they absorb more heat, warming the butterflies.
Did you know there are around 560 species of swallowtail butterflies worldwide with 10 species residing in Florida, the most in one state in the United States?
Other eastern black swallowtail posts with further information on species and photographs:
I had my “sweet butterfly bliss” moment in the garden this afternoon when I spotted a brand new caterpillar, well four.
In April I introduced a new butterfly host plant to the garden. Throughout the year a local park, which has a large butterfly house and a beautiful butterfly garden, hosts a native plant sale. We frequent Rotary Park often, walking through the butterfly house to get ideas and learn more about butterflies that call Southwest Florida their home. I love this sale because local nurseries, as well as master gardeners sell their plants, an abundance of host plants and nectar plants for butterflies, at reasonable prices and in one location. Each time I try to bring home a new host plant, hoping to attract another species to our garden.
I am happy to say, less than three months later, one of the two dill plants now has four baby eastern black swallowtail (papilio polyzenes asterius) caterpillars. (Papilio is the Latin word for butterfly.) I decided to plant the dill in pots, as I have never had this plant before. The third move for one of the pots deemed to be my lucky location. So, needless to say, into the butterfly house they went with cuttings from my dill plant, which right now has plenty of growth.
This swallowtail, apparently is one of the most common butterflies, as they can be found throughout southern Canada, as well as many locations in the United States – eastern to mid-west and southwest to northern Mexico.
The butterfly’s wingspan is 6.9 to 8.4 centimeters and the male and female have different markings, making it easier to tell them apart. As with other butterflies, the female is larger with the upper surface of her wings black with two rows of yellow spots, which are smaller and lighter, as well as a powdery iridescent blue. The male, on the other hand, have both larger and brighter rows of yellow spots and his powdery iridescent blue is less distinguished. Another cool characteristic, the red spot with a black bulls-eye in the middle of the hind wings.
The caterpillar, I am very interested in watching grow as it changes pretty drastically as it goes through its instars. The swallowtails, I have noticed, take quite a bit of time to go through all of its instars, with this one being no exception. This caterpillar takes anywhere from 10 to 30 days before entering the chrysalis stage, which can last up to 18 days.
When the caterpillars are young they have a “white saddle,” according to the University of Florida. The website also stated that it’s white because of the “uric acid deposits,” which protects them from “phototoxic chemicals” consumed from their diet. As the caterpillar mature, it will turn green with black long bands across its body with yellow spots.
The four caterpillars I found seem to still be in its first instar, as photos from my research show yellow spots starting to appear in the second instar. Hopefully these caterpillars make it to their last instar and chrysalis. I sure would love to see the butterfly, as the female has some how snuck into the garden and laid eggs, multiple times, without me noticing.
