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Category Archives: butterfly caterpillars   rss

Queen Chrysalis

Chrysalis ID
Hi Bugman, I’m hoping you can ID this chrysalis which several docents found on the grounds of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, on 9/19/08. It was hanging on a Totem Pole Cactus. We’re thinking it may be that of a Queen butterfly, which are common at the Museum this time of year.
Carole
Tuscon, Arizona

queen chrysalis carole 223x300 Queen Chrysalis

Queen Chrysalis

Hi Carole,
We believe you are correct with the Queen Chrysalis identification. If this is not the Queen, Danaus gilippus, it is another member of the genus which includes the Monarch.

Posted 20 September 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Metamorphosis of a Sulphur Butterfly

Complete butterfly life cycle in central Missouri
I tried (and probably failed) to send pictures of the caterpillar and cocoon I had in my classroom.

senna cat metamorphosis1 300x292 Metamorphosis of a Sulphur Butterfly

The day he hatched, the cocoon turned transparent, and it hatched on September 10. We released it the next day. Attached are pictures of the caterpillar, his cocoon right after he completed it,

senna chrysalis metamorphosis1 300x289 Metamorphosis of a Sulphur Butterfly

the cocoon just before it hatched,

senna sulphur transparent metamorphosis1 300x283 Metamorphosis of a Sulphur Butterfly

a picture of him right after he hatched, still drying and next to his empty cocoon, and a final picture of him on a plant in our classroom. I unfortunately could not get a shot of his spread wings, but they were solid yellow, with a very narrow band of black at the edges. If you’d like, we took a few pictures of his face and wings with our hand-held microscope, which I can try to copy over and send if you’d like some 10x magnification views of him. Just let me know! Love your site,
Science Teacher in Missouri

senna sulphur metamorphosis1 300x283 Metamorphosis of a Sulphur Butterfly

Dear Science Teacher,
Your documentation of what we believe to be a Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis sennae, are greatly appreciated. The image of the transparent chrysalis is most interesting. You can find out more about this species on BugGuide.

Posted 13 September 2008 § Whites and Sulfurs ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Chrysalis Parasitized by Chalcid Wasps

Parasitic invasion of chrysalis
A friend gave me a beautiful chrysalis yesterday to watch and photograph. This morning the container to swarming with little flying insects. I moved it outside and found two holes in the chrysalis that the bugs were emerging from. What are the flying insects, and have they probably attacked whatever moth or butterfly was forming in the coccoon? Thank you very much for any information.
Cindy Donegan

monarch chrysalis chalcids Monarch Chrysalis Parasitized by Chalcid Wasps

Hi Cindy,
Your distinctive Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis has been parasitized by minute Chalcid Wasps. According to BugGuide, there are over 2200 North American species, but since you did not provide us with a location, there may be more or less where you made this observation. BugGuide also states: “They are used as pest controls because they parasitize mainly the orders that contain many common pests: Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera and Homoptera.”

Posted 26 August 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars § Parasitic Hymenopterans ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Dingy Purplewing: imago and caterpillars

Dingy Purplewing
Here are photos of a Dingy Purplewing butterfly and some caterpillars in one of my Gumbo Limbo trees Assassin bugs will eat all the caterpillars so I raise them in the house if I can get to them in time. Normally you can only see where they were. We released almost 30 butterflies from the batch in the picture.
Tad Swackhammer

dingy purplewing tad Dingy Purplewing: imago and caterpillarsdingy purplewing cats tad Dingy Purplewing: imago and caterpillars

hi Tad,
Just imagine our elation to read your subject line for a species we did not have represented on our site. Then we were crestfallen to realize you did not provide us with a location. We are guessing you may be in Florida as all the submissions to BugGuide for the Dingy Purplewing, Eunica monima, originated in Florida. Your story of intervention is quite touching.

Posted 14 August 2008 § Brush Footed Butterflies § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillar

New London, NH USA
Can you tell me what these caterpillars are? I think one is a swallowtail but don’t know the other one. Thank You

monarch cat milkweed pod Monarch Caterpillar

Your caterpillar is a Monarch, not a swallowtail. It is on a milkweed pod, the larval food plant.

Posted 09 August 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Unknown Butterfly Caterpillar from photo archive is Brush Footed Butterfly Caterpillar

what is this caterpiller
I’m scanning some beautiful slides of a photographer who died a couple years ago. She had no family and so her friends and I are trying to save her work and show or sell them. It would help if we knew what we’re looking at and I hope you can help with this one. She traveled all over the world but lived the last decade in Florida. I think this caterpiller was from here. Thank you
Cindy

unknown caterpiller archive Unknown Butterfly Caterpillar from photo archive is Brush Footed Butterfly Caterpillar

Hi Cindy,
We don’t recognize your caterpillar, but it is a butterfly and not a moth. Because of the structural similarity to the Pipevine Swallowtail Caterpillar, Battus philenor, we suspect this is one of the Swallowtails, probably an exotic species and not a Floridian one. Perhaps one of our readers will recognize this stunning caterpillar.

Update: December 18, 2008
Caterpillar Identifications
Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Hello again, Daniel. … a few other IDs and correction.
This larva is in the genus Idea (Nymphalidae, Danainae). If I could see a high-resolution photo, I would probably be able to identify the species and country/area of origin.
I hope the above information is helpful.
Best wishes,
Keith Wolfe
aka “EarlyStages”

Posted 08 August 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Vanessa Caterpillar: possibly Red Admiral

UNIDENTIFIED CATERPILLAR NEEDS YOUR HELP
Hello, Here are two caterpillars that I found on a type of weed that I call the sandpaper leaf weed because the leaves feel exactly like sandpaper. It looks a little like a mourning cloak caterpillar but I don’t know for certain. The chrysalises’ are about 7/16th of an inch long. I looked through your website and couldn’t find any that looked like this. Can you help me? Thanks a lot. I’ve named many a caterpillar from images from this site. Keep up the good work.
Lisa

vanessa cat lisa Vanessa Caterpillar: possibly Red Admiral

Hi Lisa,
Since your photos are not critically sharp, and because there is much variability in the caterpillars, we cannot provide a conclusive species identification, but we are certain the genus is Vanessa. We believe your caterpillars are either Red Admirals, Vanessa atalanta, or Painted Ladies, Vanessa cardui. The Red Admiral feeds on plants in the Nettle family and that is consistant with your plant description, so we are favoring the Red Admiral. Since you have actually observed the caterpillars, you can follow the links to the BugGuide images we have posted with your letter on our homepage and try to determine if we are correct. You can also keep a chrysalis in a small cage until the butterfly emerges. Please let us know what you discover.

Posted 01 August 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

Monarch Caterpillar

Dear Bugman,
I found this Caterpillar in some vine on my fence in the backyard. I live in central Illinois. Can you help me figure out what kind it is? Can I possibly watch it change? Thanks!
Blaire

monarch cat blaire Monarch Caterpillar

Hi Blaire,
The vine must be a climbing milkweed since this is the larva America’s (if not the world’s) most beloved butterfly, a Monarch Buttefly Caterpillar.

Posted 01 August 2008 § brush footed butterfly caterpillars ‡ Comments (0) °

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