Category: Chrysalis

Pipevine Swallowtail

Brand new! This Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) has just emerged from its chrysalis.

A couple years ago I decided that if I wanted to see Pipevine Swallowtails, I should get a plant that would engage them. Their host plants are in the genus Aristolochia. One of them, Woolly Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia tomentosa) filled the bill since it’s native to the eastern US and southeastern Canada. Perfect. I put up a trellis, planted it and let it grow.

And nature did its magic. Pipevine Swallowtails came and deposited eggs on the leaves. Those eggs became caterpillars. Many caterpillars.

I was beside myself with glee.

The little caterpillars ate the leaves of the vine, getting larger and larger until it was time for each of them to create a chrysalis. Much to my surprise one of the plump black and orange dotted creatures decided to present me with a gift. The gift of perfect location. It built its chrysalis right next to my front door at the perfect height for me to watch its progress. The perfect height for my camera to capture happenings.

The chrysalis was attached to the cedar siding with two little silken threads, one at the back and the other near the front. And it hung there day after day. Glowing with its incredible coloring. Glowing yellow creating the illusion of warm candlelight coming from within.

As time passed the chrysalis turned more and more paper bag brown. But still it seemed to glow from within with that warm candlelight yellow.

Then at about day 17, the chrysalis looked as if there was something inside, not just candlelight but something resembling a butterfly eager to get out. I thought about manning a station. Sitting, watching constantly to see the miraculous moment when the butterfly emerged. But I didn’t.

My next observation just a short time later, the chrysalis was just an empty shell. The incredible NEW butterfly was hanging onto the siding, pumping its butterfly “blood” into its wings. Getting ready to fly away to begin its extremely short life of just 6 to 14 days.

What an extraordinary thing to witness. I’m so very glad I planted that Wooly Dutchman’s Pipe.

Juniper Hairstreak

How often do you get to see a green butterfly? For me, not often at all. Actually only once. And here it is. This is a Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus gryneus). Their host plant in my area, the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, is Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). The Juniper Hairstreak overwinters as a chrysalis. A mighty small butterfly with a wingspan of one inch. This one, in the image above, is drinking nectar from my Apple Mint.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

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.