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Pipevine Swallowtail Larvae

Battus philenor

Photo by Eva Varga
Published on Project Noah
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40.6091, -122.61

Field Notes

Description:

The caterpillars will eat the leaves, stems, and seed capsules of the host plant. The larvae are either black or smoky red. Many fleshy filaments project from the sides of the body, the longest being on the anterior end. Over the dorsal part of the body are two rows of orange-red 'warts'.

Habitat:

They are found in many different habitats, but are most commonly found in forests.

Notes:

The black or red caterpillars feed on Aristolochia species, making them poisonous as both larvae and adults, while the adults feed on the nectar of a variety of flowers.

Reference Links:

Battus philenor

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
KarenL
I've planted a couple of pipevines in the hope of attracting more of these into the garden & I was just interested to know if there was anything else that would work for them too. Well done on recruiting your kids into project noah!
Eva Varga
@Karen - I'm not really sure. My kids found them when we were on a walk. They picked them up immediately. My DD states the one she found was on a stalk of grass that resembled wheat. We placed them on these leaves for a better picture. At the time we observed them, we didn't know what species they were. We've only recently learned how to identify their host plant, Pipevine.
KarenL
Lovely! What plant are they feeding on? it doesn't look like a Aristolochia species?

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PublishedOctober 4, 2011

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