Design

pipevine swallowtail After noticing the chrysalises last week , I was delighted to see a newly emerged pipevine swallowtail this morning, hanging on the ledge outside the bathroom window (near the pipevine plant).  Its wings were already expanded, but it wasn't yet ready to fly.  It stayed there for maybe 45 minutes, then finally flew away.

Pipevine A large pipevine ( Aristolochia macrophylla ) rambles up to the roof on a trellis outside my study window in the Piedmont. Some years, it's a great host for pipevine swallowtail caterpillars; in other years, we don't see any .   This has been a good year for early sighting of butterflies and caterpillars, maybe because of unseasonably warm temperatures early in spring. Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar Chrysalis I noticed chrysalides (=chrysalises) in numerous places on the top of the porch arches and along the base of the gutters. They'll probably emerge this summer (I saw some empty ones). I hadn't noticed so many in previous years. Chrysalises and (probably 4th) instar

The large bottlebrush buckeye ( Aesculus sylvatica ) in the front of our house is in full flower. It's glorious for a couple of weeks in mid-June each year. It keeps getting bigger, but we selectively prune the suckers to keep it from over-running the kalmias and rhododendrons nearby. This picture doesn't do it justice at all, taken quickly before heading off, but shows how large the flowers can be. Swallowtails are enjoying visiting the flowers; pipevines and this black swallowtail (I think) are abundant. Note: Actually, it's a pipevine swallowtail (Thanks, Randy) - we have lots flying around right now, thanks to our huge pipevine ( Aristolochia macrophylla )!

I've never been particularly fond of zinnias, but maybe I just didn't know them very well. The large garden zinnias, planted in the Peter Rabbit Garden by a colleague, are butterfly magnets. The zinnias reseeded happily from last year, and right now it's a wonderful butterfly pitstop. Maybe because of our drought, nectar sources are literally drying up, so only minimally watered garden flowers are a respite. But the butterflies were abundant - mostly tiger, black, and pipevine swallowtails, with an odd silver-spotted skipper, gulf fritillary, and a single monarch dropping by. Pipevine swallowtail

A bluish butterfly caught my eye in the main vegetable garden yesterday, near the base of the tomato plant that I had just finished watering. It (s/he) was methodically getting moisture and nutrients from the damp mulch, opening and closing its wings in a typical fashion. I was hopeful it was a pipevine swallowtail (I REALLY need caterpillars on the big pipevine to do some pruning (that is, chomping!), but it turned out to be a pipevine mimic, a red-spotted purple. Red-spotted purple Mimicking the distasteful pipevine (because of the aristolochic acids sequestered from its host plant) helps reduce predation, since birds quickly learn to avoid them. This one spent quite a bit of time 'puddling' before heading off.

A dark butterfly flying around the pipevine outside my study window caught my attention. Ooh, might it be a pipevine swallowtail? Our pipevine ( Aristolochia macrophylla ) definitely needs some caterpillars this year. We didn't have any last year, and it's a strong grower. Planted specifically as a host plant for pipevine swallowtails, it coexists with Carolina jessamine on this trellis, producing large green heart-shaped leaves and spreading vigorously. Its small greenish purple flowers, shaped like a pipe, appear in mid-spring (late April-early May for us). The afternoon light was harsh, but I was able to determine that it was a female pipevine swallowtail, depositing eggs on young leaves (which are preferred). Hooray!