#swallowtail
Throwback to Feb of 2015 “New Swallowtail Designs”
Art Nouveau vase by Stephanie Young of Calmwater Designs
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“We are new to Sasebo, Japan and were greeted by the front door of our unit in the tower we live in by this beauty butterfly earlier this summer. It must have known we love insects and was hopeful that we’d be able to help it find it’s way back outside to safety. We were able to get this very large and beautiful butterfly outside and were gifted with a couple pictures before it left. I think it’s a Papilio maackii, but don’t know for sure. Also can you tell from the photo if this one is male or female? Thanks so much!”
Thanks so much for submitting that awesome photo of the swallowtail butterfly you found in Kyushu. It’s an incredible individual, what a brilliant find.
I looked carefully at photos of Papilio maackii to compare, but it looks slightly different. maackii seems to always have a line of iridescent teal running along the lower edge of the hindwings with a stripe of black above and below it. Due to the absence of this line, I believe you’ve found a Papilio dehaani, with the slightly disappointing Japanese name of “Karasu-ageha”and the much more complementary English name of “Chinese Peacock Butterfly”.
Compare with this photo!
which has similar whitish brushing on the forewings, row of red spots on the hindwings, and clear delineation on the hindwings between the iridescent green/blue area and the deep black area where the red spots occur. Another reference:
This photo: Shows an identified male at a puddle.
Thus with reasonable confidence I will say you’ve got a very robust female Papilio dehaani! Many other examples I saw of this butterfly did not show such a full set of spots or such breadth of wing, but yours looks extremely healthy. She must have had a whole mikan tree to herself as a caterpillar!The red spots are present in the females, to a greater or total degree compared to the males, of many swallowtails, particularly in Japan.
- Special notes: Spring and summer generations produce different looking adults. There is both a spring form and a summer form for this butterfly.
Larval food
Rutaceae:
- Citrus depressa
- Citrus junos
- Citrus tachibana
- Euodia gabrifolia
- Euodia lepta
- Euodia meliaefolia
- Orixa japonica
- Phellodendron amurense
- Poncirus trifoliata
- Skimmia japonica
- Zanthoxylum ailanthoides
- Zanthoxylum nitidum
- Zanthoxylum piperitum
- Zanthoxylum schinifolium
I have been told that Kuro-ageha and Karasu-ageha are rare to find in Japan, even the caterpillars, although they feed on all citrus plants as swallowtails do. Thank you again for your great submission and feel free to ask if you find any other bugs!
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Brilliant photos from Hakenomori showing the difference in 4th-instar swallowtails common to Japan: Papilio memnon (Great Mormon, “Nagasaki Ageha”),Papilio protenor (Spangle,“Kuro Ageha”),Papilio xuthus (Yellow Swallowtail, “Ageha”or“Nami Ageha”), which all look extremely similar at the young instars.
They are much easier to differentiate at later instars, but most Swallowtails use the clever camouflage of looking like poo when young, and little green snakes when in their last instar (shed before pupating).
Last Wednesday I picked up two very small (1cm) swallowtails off a Kinkan (kumquat, Citrus japonica) tree, assuming they were the regular, common Papilio xuthus that I’ve raised many times before. I only found two of a similar size among the dozen saplings at that location, but took them home along with some more citrus leaves.
In the 6 days I’ve had them, they both shed twice and ate and grew, and are now at about the size that a normal Papilio xuthus would have already shed to 5th instar, but their skin looks taut and greenish instead of a deep coffee brown. Finally this morning I suspected I was not looking at Papilio xuthus after all, and went online to look up differences. They don’t have the white ‘butt’ of a Kuro Ageha, so I looked a little closer— then I noticed the sky blue speckles along their backs and realized I had stumbled upon the stunningly beautiful, much more uncommon Great Mormon caterpillar!
Their mother must have recognized the citrus trees as a suitable food for her caterpillars, but instead of placing many eggs like xuthus, left only a few eggs and zoomed off to find another location.
I look forward to raising these guys with great attention!
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Hi - could you help me identify this caterpillar? It was on my lime tree. I’m in Yamaguchi-ken.
Hello!
Thanks for your submission!
You’ve found my all-time favorite bug of Japan and the one on my header image, a Papilio xuthus , Chinese Yellow Swallowtail (called “Ageha” or “Nami-ageha”).
You can see other posts I’ve made about these iconic and beautiful butterflies on my blog here: https://bugsofjapan.tumblr.com/tagged/papilio_xuthus
This particular caterpillar is going to be a pupa within 5-10 days depending on the weather temperature. It’s nearly impossible to tell the sex of a caterpillar, but I had a system I was working on when raising these, judging by the shape of the abdomen when they were fully grown as caterpillars before they became a chrysalis– however yours is not very far into his fifth “instar” (shed skin stage as a larva) judging by the size of his face (large) to his body (kind of small and wrinkly). He will get QUITE a bit bigger, probably as big as your pinky finger before becoming a chrysalis!
The caterpillars of Papilio xuthus can ONLY feed on plants in the citrus family (including Rue), but Japan is chock-full of citrus trees so they are commonly seen in suburban areas. They will eat a LOT of leaves at this stage, but they are a caterpillar for only 5-10 more days before becoming a butterfly, and then going on to be a wonderful pollinator in the neighborhood. Your caterpillar, if he grows up, will live as a butterfly all the way until the first frost when he will freeze and die. However, any of his children that have become a pupa will stay as a pupa over winter, even in freezing temperatures, and emerge in the spring time as the first ‘flight’ of Ageha in April.
Here are some of the desserts and food sets offered at Swallowtail, the top butler cafe in Tokyo! They have English support, so be sure to check it out
Homepage:
http://www.butlers-cafe.jp/
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TW INSECTS WORMS CHRYSALIS CATERPILLARS
WHAT IS THIS?!?!?! Looks like fresh Swallowtail butterfly cocoons, but I’m not sure, it’s hard to find a quickguide on just the chrysalis pics of California insects.
My mom saw one on her kale plant (IN the house overnight, bc the plant comes in at night) and said an entire leaf was missing/eaten down overnight, and to come give the worm to my mantises before it eats more…
So I look, and it’s not moving. I see a second one and poke them a bit to try and see what they do, but they’re not even grabbing the leaf or moving, and they look like chrysalises. It’s too hard to see them outside in the sun where the plant goes out during the day, so I decide to pull them off so I can look at them inside, and AHAH! They’re attached by a string of silk, onto a mat of silk that’s then attached to the kale leaves. So, I pinned the silk mats to some fabric to leave them hanging in a critter carrier.
I have no idea how to care for butterflies, but I guess being The Bug Guy is now my life, so why not. ((If anyone knows what they are, please share! I’m on the central coast of Cali.))
#chrysalis #chrysalises #cocoon #cocoons #larva #pupa #caterpillar #caterpillars #butterfly #butterflies #moth #moths #insect #insects #bug #bugs #insectidentification #swallowtail #swallowtailbutterfly #garden #gardening #zone9 #zone9garden #zone9b #california #pandemicgardening #kaleplant (at Santa Barbara County, California)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CV0pZZLPVzO/?utm_medium=tumblr
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This purple spotted swallowtail is found only in the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea at elevations between 4000 and 8000 feet above sea level. The species, Graphium weiskei, was first described in 1900 by German entomologist, Carl Ribbe, and named in honor of Emil Weiskei, a German naturalist who traveled the world to procure specimens for his private museum in the late 1800s.
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Species: Graphi weiskei
Photo: Sarah Folts | The Butterfly Babe
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Love & Bugs — @thebutterflybabe
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#butterfly #butterflies #Insectart #newguinea #swallowtail #nature #wildlife #virginiaartist #education #learn #taxidermy #oddity #curiosity #artistsoninstagram #boho
https://www.instagram.com/butterflybabegallery/p/CY2Hgogusez/?utm_medium=tumblr
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I made some tote bags! 100% organic cotton
https://bluerainprintshop.com/collections/leah-garcia/products/yellow-aspen-tote-bag
I’ve been going through some heavy stuff lately, and finally had a moment to sit down and open some belated Xmas and bday gifts from you guys. I think it was one of those things where I was meant to wait to open these specific gifts, as it seems they were opened (given) at the precise time.
Thank you @looking_glass_insects for the beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly display! I love the way you displayed it in a cigar box alongside a super cool pulp mag! This will be hung in my bedroom alongside my other specimen collection! If you guys are into cool stuff like this, definitely check out their work and support their small business!
Thank you so much to the wonderful person who took the time to source all of the photos of the late Stan and I and put them on a beautiful tumbler. It was incredibly touching. For those of you who have been around for a long time, you know how much he meant to me and that he truly was a dear friend of mine. I will treasure this
Thank you to the person who sent me the lovely card, the funny jokes, and pooper scooper for the cats They were in need of a new one hahaha!
You guys gave me the feels with your wonderful expressions of art, your beautiful words, the smiles you brought me, and kindness you shared. Today was the day to open these and I am so very grateful for you guys.
#mycurrentmood #gratitude #grateful #insects #entomology #scooper #funny #kindness #birthday #swallowtail #Butterfly #Stanlee #handmade
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ccoged2pxlW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Spring Swallow Bird ▪︎Necklace Edition Now in store! Link in profile
#spring #swallowtail #swallow #swallowbird #plumblossom #blossom #earrings #jewellery #jewelry #jewelrydesigner #originalart #originaldesign #jade #VinCrows #kawaii
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVpXWFwvGB0/?utm_medium=tumblr
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Spring Swallow Bird ▪︎Earring Edition Now in store! Link in profile
I’m honestly so happy with my spring jewellery series, and them being my first original jewellery series too! I hope ya’ll like them ❤
#spring #swallowtail #swallow #swallowbird #plumblossom #blossom #earrings #jewellery #jewelry #jewelrydesigner #originalart #originaldesign #jade #VinCrows #kawaii
https://www.instagram.com/p/CVfEgGAv_KD/?utm_medium=tumblr
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@allbino submitted: Hello fellow insect lover!
I Just moved to a new place in Brisbane, QLD, Australia and have been finding heaps of cute insects in my new garden, all on my lime tree. I’d love if you could help me identify them? Thank you!
This caterpillar that morphs from brown/white (like bird poo ) then to white/green with red retractable horns?
This cute little leaf hopper?
This (actually huge?!) stink bug, largest I’ve seen
And I’ve seen a few of these beautiful iridescent spiders ✨
How exciting to have a garden full of pals you can go admire any time you like! I can certainly help you ID them. The caterpillars are orchard swallowtails, and they prefer citrus trees as their host plant! The “horns” are called osmeteria and they evert them from inside their body defensively. They emit a stinky odor that predators don’t like.
The planthopper is a citrus planthopper, which makes sense. The Large Dude is not a stink bug, but it is related to stink bugs! It’s called a bronze orange bug and once again feeds on citrus. Technically the family they’re in are called the tessaratomids, but colloquially people call them giant shield bugs or giant stink bugs.
And finally the absolutely beautiful spider man is a sea-green northern jumper! Keep your eyes peeled for females nearby as well. They’re more rotund and are a sort of bronzey-purple color.
Thanks for sharing all these great pals, tell them all I love them!
