Almost there... Queen butterfly prepares to land on Porter weed	Cloudless Sulfur larva (caterpillar)	Cloudless Sulfur larva (caterpillar)
Cloudless Sulfur larva (caterpillar)	Long tailed skipper butterfly	Monarch butterfly on Milkweed
Monarch butterfly larva	Oleander moth	Queen butterfly feeding on Milkweed
Queen butterfly feeding on Milkweed	Queen butterfly feeding on Milkweed	Queen butterfly in flight
Queen butterflies mating	Queen butterflies mating

12.09.07

 Four months after their initial visit, The Polydamus Swallowtail Butterflies (Battus polydamus)
are once again making their home in the Crooked Garden.
 

The Polydamus Swallowtail females are laying their eggs on the Dutchman's Pipevine plants, and many eggs have hatched and the larva (caterpillars) are growing fast.

We originally thought that the eggs were Pipevine Swallowtail eggs,
but then we witnessed and photographed the female Polydamus Swallowtail laying her eggs on the tender vines of the Pipevine, and closer examination of the caterpillars was our final confirmation.

   

REMEMBER that the HOST plant IS the PLANT that the caterpillar eats in order to begin the total metamorphosis to become a butterfly, and the host plant will come back strong again.
 
The caterpillars in the first photo are only hours old, and the ones in the second photo are less than a day old.
As you can see, they have already grown quite a bit! The Polydamus butterfly lays her eggs in clusters on the most tender new stems of the plant, and the eggs all hatch about the same time. These new tiny caterpillars first eat their egg shells for their initial protein snack. Their next duty (instinct) is to begin devouring their HOST PLANT starting with their nice tender supporting stems.

These butterfly caterpillars will grow to 27,000 times their original size in a few short weeks. A human example would be like this: If a baby weighed 9 pounds at birth, and grew at the same rate as the caterpillar, the baby would weight 243,00 pounds when fully grown. That is a lot of growing, and the caterpillar does it in just a few short weeks.
These caterpillars will "hang out" and feed in groups during the first few instars. They will become more solitary
when they get older, and at that time you will see individual caterpillars all over the vines. The caterpillars skin does not stretch (we humans are lucky that ours does), so it must shed it's skin 5 to 9 times (depending on the species), during this rapid growth period. This shedding is called an instar, and the caterpillar can often look a little different after each one. Notice below how they are still feeding in groups, and the final photo are a couple of caterpillars that are a little older than the others, and look a little different too.
 
Their are Polydamus Swallowtail caterpillars on the Pergola Pipevine too, and the Pipevine trellis near the picnic tables is covered with eggs and caterpillars too.
Look for leaves that are eaten, and the caterpillars won't be far away. Keep checking this website for further detail, or better yet, go to the Crooked Garden and experience these wonders in person.

10.03.07   

Polydamus Swallowtail caterpillar on the Dutchman Pipevine

 

 

More Crooked Garden Curator Observations (with VIDEO):

10.27.07  This is a follow up to the Polydamus Swallowtail Butterfly caterpillars story that is now located in the Photo Gallery. These photo's below, were taken on August 17, 2007, and are from a more recent cluster of Polydamus Swallowtail butterfly eggs than the photo's above these.
 
Click on the above image to view short video's (wmv.files) of the Polydamus Swallowtail caterpillars osmeteria
extension.

This is a good example of how these 2 inch long "eating machines" can grow to 27,000 time their birth weight in a matter of a couple of weeks.
Notice that many of these huge Polydamus Swallowtail caterpillars have abandoned their leaf eating, and are NOW eating away the Petiole (the base of the Pipevine leaves), and letting the full grown uneaten leaves fall to the ground.
IT IS PRESUMED that feasting on the Petiole and the ends of the plant stems provide more volume of food (and more access to the plants liquid nutrients provided by the natural pumping action of the plant) for each giant bite from these ravenous caterpillars that are nearing their final instar, and will soon be forming a chrysalis.  NOTICE that in both of these above Photo's (two different caterpillars), the caterpillars have just finished eating away the leaf at it's base, and are now focusing on consuming the stem on the plant.
Final observation: the little yellow V shaped object protruding from the head of the caterpillar (in the photo's and video below) are sent horns (osmeteria) located at the back of the head, warning predators to "Back Off" by sending a pungent odor into the air.
(Note: The photographer could not differentiate this caterpillar emitted pungent odor from the unpleasant odor already emitting from the Pipevine itself.)

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