pipevine swallowtail

These were a joy to keep, and very satisfying with these lovely iridescent colors. Totally recommend these to people getting into lepidoptera.

The adults all emerged with zero problems and were released. they are stunning butterflies with beautiful blue iridescent scales. Pictures never do these justice!

This species has two seasons- One is in spring, composed entirely of overwintered adults, and the other lasts the entire monsoon, rapidly growing and pupating to the point of thousands of adults seen flying around large patches of aristolochia.

Once these have eaten enough, they enter the prepupal stage and become restless, climbing the walls looking for a good incline to pupate upon. They spin a small 'hammock' of silk that lets them suspend as a chrysalis. Late-season adults born in the monsoon overwinter as pupae.

I might actually culture these guys on a large scale, simply because of how fun they were to keep and watch. Dont let small kids handle these unsupervised, they are unbelievably poisonous.

Found a lone caterpillar near my sheet on a small aristolochia watsonii plant, which led to finding several more! This is a beautiful species, in all stages of development. Also accepts dutchman's pipe but not all aristolochia species.