What a great surprise to find a caterpillar of a Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on some Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) yesterday. Quite a small caterpillar. It’s on the leaf of the Butterfly Weed, which is between 1/2 and 3/4 inch wide.
The Monarch has four phases in its life; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. This caterpillar is the larval stage. Developing from egg to adult in the warmth of summer happens in about 25 days.
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This is a caterpillar of the Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia), chomping away on a Violet (Viola) leaf, one of many host plants of this species. A few other examples of their host plants are Passion Vines, Pansies, Purslane, Flax, and Mayapple.
As an adult, the Variegated Fritillary can live over 10 months. That’s a mighty long life for a butterfly!
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A Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) seen at Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County, Maryland. It’s the Maryland state insect. I grew up in Maryland and this, the first time I’ve ever seen this beautiful butterfly.
Just a short while after seeing that butterfly I happened upon this caterpillar at Buck Hollow, in Shenandoah National Park, where I was working at invasives removal as a Master Naturalist. It is the caterpillar of the Baltimore Checkerspot.
Since then I’ve added White turtlehead (Chelone glabra) to my garden. That’s a larval host plant of Baltimore Checkerspot. So far I haven’t seen any but I’m still hopeful.
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Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton). I love so many butterflies. This is one of them. It’s the official state insect of Maryland. I was able to capture this photo of a Baltimore Checkerspot at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland.
The Baltimore Checkerspot larval host plant is White Turtlehead. If that plant is not available caterpillars will often choose viburnum, English plantain, or penstemon as a substitute. I took this image of a Baltimore Checkerspot caterpillar at Buck Hollow in Shenandoah National Park.
My first sighting this season was yesterday. The state insect of Virginia, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus). Native to eastern North America. The butterfly I saw yesterday had just emerged from its chrysalis. Brand new.
This is what a chrysalis looks like. Though NOT an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail chrysalis, it looks to a large extent like one. One major difference would be more rich brown and less bright yellow. The shape is basically the same. This is a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) chrysalis.
In the autumn an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar will form itself into a chrysalis. NOT a cocoon but a chrysalis. Cocoons are used by moths. Chrysalises are used by butterflies. In ten to twenty days or over the winter the caterpillar makes incredible changes. As if by magic it will become a butterfly — to live just six to fourteen days.
Mainly males, after emerging, often will gather at puddles to take in sodium and minerals which tend to be lacking in the adult’s diet and are necessities for reproduction and flight. This is called “puddling.”
Speaking of reproduction, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails generally have two broods each year. Females lay their eggs on such trees as Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) and Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina). Those eggs will hatch in four to ten days as caterpillars. The earliest stage of the caterpillar looks just like bird droppings. The mature caterpillar is green, with eye spots, and a pale “neck ring.” Further to the front is a little purply-pink head.
Although most females look nearly like males, mostly yellow and black, there is a black form of the female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. This is a method of protection. The black form is a mimic of the Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which has a disagreeable taste. Predators have learned to avoid both the Pipevine Swallowtail and the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail’s black form. The portion of females with this coloring is more common in areas where there are more Pipevine Swallowtails.
The caterpillar becomes a chrysalis which becomes a dazzling butterfly. And so it goes. On and on.
