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Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Caterpillar aggregation in Argentina

larvae
Location: Puerto Libertad, Misiones, Argentina (25°54’59.58”S,54°34’44.14”O)
February 7, 2012 2:02 pm
I was wondering if you can identify this larvae for me. The pictures are not very good. Thanks!
Signature: viole

Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Caterpillar Aggregation

Dear Viole,
You are too critical of your photos. We find them to be quite excellent both in terms of technical quality as well as aesthetic composition. This social aggregation of caterpillars belong to the species Papilio anchisiades, commonly called the Ruby Spotted Swallowtail. The Butterflies of America website has a photo that matches the caterpillars in your photo. We have posted photos of the caterpillar aggregations of the Ruby Spotted Swallowtail several times in the past. The Ruby Spotted Swallowtail ranges from Mexico to Argentina. The adult Ruby Spotted Swallowtail is a lovely butterfly.

Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Caterpillars

add Ruby Spotted Swallowtail Caterpillar aggregation in Argentina

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¶ Posted 09 February 2012 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Colorful Transparent: Parnassus Butterfly from Israel

Butterfly in Israel
Location: Zippori stream, Israel
January 4, 2012 10:02 am
Hello Bug people!
I was on a hike in Northern Israel last weekend (a great way to see off the old year and start the new), and during the hike I saw a couple of these butterflies playing around. I was lucky enought to shoot one of them just before it flew off.
Quick research tells me it is an Archon apollinus bellargus, of the papilionoidae family. A loose translation of its Hebrew name is the ’Colorful Transparent’.
Enjoy!
Signature: Ben

Archon apollinus bellargus

Dear Ben,
We are positively thrilled to receive your image of the Colorful Transparent. We were struck by its resemblance to members of the genus Parnassus, sometimes called Apollo Butterflies, which sad to say are highly sought by collectors and becoming endangered in their high altitude habitats in the Palaearctic. We suspect that they are taxonomically quite close to this lovely member of the same family. We found support for your identification on TrekNature which states: “One of the most primitive species of Papilionidae in Israel. It is the only specie in Israel which is active in the winter. its upper wings are bit transparent.” It is also pictured on the Tree of Life website which states: “Larvae of A. apollinus feed on species of Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae).”

¶ Posted 12 January 2012 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Swallowtail in Pennsylvania

Black butterfly with yellow stripes?
Location: Doylestown, Pennsylvania
December 5, 2011 8:59 am
Hey there.
I’ve been lurking your site for awhile and appreciate your extensive knowledge of bugs.
Awhile back I came across a black butterfly with yellow stripes. I have not seen very many pictures of it online and I was wondering what it was. I’ve been told it was an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail but almost none of the pictures look like this guy.
Signature: Mister Sergei

Giant Swallowtail

Dear Mister Sergei,
Though they are found as far north as Canada, Giant Swallowtails, Papilio cresphontes, are much more common in the southern portions of their range where they have adapted to an introduced larval food plant, the leaves of citrus trees.

¶ Posted 05 December 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Orange Dog

Caterpillar ID
Location: Scottsdale, Az
November 20, 2011 3:54 pm
We saw this insect at our home in Scottsdale, Az in early Nov 2011.
Signature: Stan

Orange Dog

Hi Stan,
This caterpillar that mimics bird’s dropping is commonly called the Orange Dog because it feeds on the leaves of orange and other citrus despite it being a native species and citrus being Mediterranean. The Orange Dog will eventually metamorphose into a Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes. Though Giant Swallowtails are native to the southeastern U.S., they have more recently been reported in parts of the Southeast, including Los Angeles, CA, most likely because of the cultivation of orange orchards and accidental introduction from Florida or natural range expansion because of the availability of citrus to augment the native diet of ” Common Pricklyash (Zanthoxylum americanum), and Common Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata)” according to BugGuide.

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¶ Posted 23 November 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Androgeus Swallowtail and Caterpillar from Puerto Rico

about a caterpilar
Location: Puerto Rico
November 12, 2011 8:58 am
hey! I’m trying to find whats the name of the bugs I’m sending please replay as soon as possible
Signature: Jenny

Androgeus Swallowtail Caterpillar

Hi Jenny,
Both your caterpillar and adult have a strong resemblance to the Giant Swallowtail, however, there are subtle differences that caused us to doubt that as the correct identification. Here is a photo of a Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar from our archives and a photo of an adult Giant Swallowtail from our archives. Our continued research brought us to the Adven Tours of Puerto Rico website and their butterfly list that included five swallowtails from Puerto Rico including the Androgeus Swallowtail that seemed to be a good match. The Butterflies of Americawebsite pictures this sexually dimorphic species that indicates your adult is a male. The Butterflies and Moths of North America website only pictures the female, but this information is included to support the larval food plant since your photos appear to be citrus leaves: “Caterpillar Hosts: Leaves of trees in citrus (Rutaceae) family orange (Citrus sinensis) and Zanthoxylum elephantiasis.”

papilio androgeus puerto rico jenny 300x206 Androgeus Swallowtail and Caterpillar from Puerto Rico

Male Papilio androgeus emerges from Chrysalis

Finally, we located this nice image of a stamp from Cuba picturing this lovely butterfly.

stamp cuba papilio androgeus 300x252 Androgeus Swallowtail and Caterpillar from Puerto Rico

Androgeus Swallowtail on a Cuban Stamp

Question from Keith Wolfe
November 13, 2011
Daniel, would it be possible to ask Jenny if she’s 100% sure that the splendid emerged butterfly resulted from the pictured brown and white caterpillar? Thank you very much!
Best wishes,
Keith

Keith Wolfe writes back
November 17, 2011
Hi Daniel,
Despite your follow-up email to Jenny going unanswered, I’m nevertheless convinced that your identification of her caterpillar as an Androgeus Swallowtail (Papilio androgeus) is correct. Good work, Bugman! Although I recognize the larva, to include being familiar with several other look-alikes in its species group, I wanted to double-check with a scholarly list of Puerto Rican butterflies, such as this somewhat dated report — http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/VOL17/P059-068.PDF (tourism websites are not necessarily a reliable source of scientific information). FYI on another young Androgeus Swallowtail from Ecuador — http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000Lx7jqbezL_M/s/1000.
Cheers,
Keith

Thanks for the vote of confidence Keith. Your insightful contributions are always most welcomed.

hey! I’m sorry it took me so long to replay, but no the caterpillar is a totally different from the butterfly!
Jenny

¶ Posted 12 November 2011 § swallowtail caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Ruby Spotted Swallowtail

Butterfly
October 24, 2011
I think it’s Ruby-Spotted Swallowtail, the same that bugguide describes as “Rare in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas. Has strayed as far north as Kansas.” The location is Pirituba, São Paulo, Brazil.
Cesar Crash

Ruby Spotted Swallowtail

Hi Cesar,
The range of the Ruby Spotted Swallowtail, Papilio anchisiades, is “From south Texas south to Argentina” according to the Butterflies and Moths of North America website, and Brazil is certainly in that range. According to Butterfly Corner, it is also called the Red Spotted Swallowtail.

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¶ Posted 25 October 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Giant Swallowtail

Papilio cresphontes, Giant Swallowtail?
Location: Hawthorne, CA
October 12, 2011 3:11 pm
Hi again,
I also had a chance this morning to get some pictures of what I think is a Giant Swallowtail. Am I correct? Do you know how to tell if this male or female?
Signature: Thanks, Anna Carreon

Giant Swallowtail

Good Morning Anna,
Your photos are making us jealous that we need to go to work during the week and we are missing the opportunity to enjoy our own garden during these glorious Southern California fall days. This is indeed a Giant Swallowtail. To the best of our knowledge, there is no easy way to distinguish males from females. That might require examination of the genitalia.

Hi Daniel,
I just remembered that I read somewhere that the male of this species tends to flutter it’s wings when feeding, so that may be a way to tell the difference between male & female.
Anna

It is difficult to see a flutter in a still photograph though.

Hi Daniel,
It’s wings were indeed fluttering. I remember wondering if I would get a good photo.
Anna

¶ Posted 13 October 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Blue Mountain Swallowtail

Papilio Ulysses (Ulysses butterfly)
Location: Australia
September 6, 2011 7:13 pm
Dear bugman I wanted to know who discovered the ulysses butterfly and how they discovered it?? Thank u for ur time.
Signature: Vanessa

Blue Mountain Swallowtail

Hi Vanessa,
Papilio ulysses, a beautiful Australian butterfly that is also known as the Blue Mountain Swallowtail, the Mountain Blue or the Blue Emperor according to the Butterfly Corner, was first described by Linnaeus, the father of taxonomy, in 1758. This is one of the most popular butterflies found in decorative collections, but we much prefer the photos of living Blue Mountain Swallowtails that can be viewed on the Tropical Rainforest of Queensland website.