TALLYHO BUTTERFLY FARM
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The Black Swallowtail (latin name Papilio polyxenes) is a very common butterfly to see in the state of Pennsylvania. It is one of the swallowtails that mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, since they eat pipevine, a toxic plant that can make birds or other predators sick or die when they eat them. They are one of many, some examples being the Spicebush Swallowtail, and a rare variant of the female Tiger Swallowtail. In northern states they fly from early June to late October, and then any chrysalides that are still pupating overwinter until the spring.
Day 1, 5/14/23. 3:22 PM. Temp: 74F. A female Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly has just laid an egg on a leaf of parsley, starting the beginning of the lifecycle documentary. Swallowtail eggs are more circular, while brushfoot (Nymphalidae) eggs look more like a corn cob. Depending on the temperatures, it can take anywhere from 2-8 days for the egg to hatch. If temperatures stay above 50F during the night and above 70F during the day, it should emerge soon.
Day 4, 5/18/23. 9:04 AM. Temp: 66F. The egg is pitch black now, signifying that the egg is about the emerge. It should emerge in around 1-3 hours.
Day 4, 5/18/23. 1:32 PM. Temp: 72F. The caterpillar has now hatched, signifying the first day as a larva! Young Black Swallowtails mimic bird poop until around the 3rd or 4th instar.
Day 6, 5/20/23. 4:45 PM. Temp: 76F. This is day 3 as a caterpillar, and it should be molting into its 2nd instar soon.
Day 7, 5/21/23. 10:05 AM. Temp: 69F. The caterpillar is now in its 2nd instar. You can see the deepened coloration all over, with new orange dots forming all around the caterpillar.
Day 12, 5/26/23. 11:03 AM. Temp: 77F. The caterpillar has just molted into its 4th instar. I couldn't find any photos of the third instar; if I find any, I'll add them to here.
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Day 14, 5/28/23. 1:02 PM. Temp: 82F. The caterpillar is now at the end of its 4th instar - it should be molting into the 5th instar any minute. You can now clearly see the transition from looking like bird poop to a mimic of the Monarch caterpillar -- some caterpillars do this because Monarchs are poisonous to bird and other predators so if they look like a Monarch, predators might not eat them.
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Day 17, 5/31/23. 2:21 PM. Temp: 84F. The caterpillar is now a fully grown fifth-instar Black Swallowtail, and should be pupating soon.
Day 19, 6/2/23. 7:56 PM. Temp: 80F. The caterpillar is going into a chrysalis. Instead of j-hanging, Swallowtails make a silk girdle to hold themselves up.
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Day 22, 6/5/23. 2:05 PM. Temp: 83F. The caterpillar has now made it's chrysalis. We had to pin it to a wall, since sometime after forming the chrysalis it fell off of it's original position. Fortunately, there were no major damages to the chrysalis, so it should emerge fine.
Day 34, 6/17/23. 9:45 AM. Temp: 79F. The chrysalis has finally emerged as a Black Swallowtail butterfly! The top of it's right wing is slightly damaged, as seen in the photo, but it has had no trouble flying and feeding on flowers.