I found these two polydamas swallowtail caterpillars on our Dutchman pipe this morning. Looks like they just finished molting, so I took off the leaf, cut a vine and brought them into our butterfly house, along with a few other caterpillars. The full grown caterpillar can grow to be approximately 5.3 cm long.

The caterpillar, after its second molt, becomes a darker brown color with larger tubercles, all which have many hairs. I am thinking the caterpillars that are now in the butterfly house are in their third instar as the texture appears much more smooth.

The polydamas caterpillar will go through five instars before they begin the chrysalis stage.