Hector's Swallowtail larva

Och, exchange in still one way ;-)...

See what I mean with expert! Thanks Keith for these very interesting infos!

See http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bn/v11n2/25.pdf for a recent report on the butterflies of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. For larval photos of Papilio hectorides, which lives in small groups when young, please consult: "Swallowtail Butterflies of the Americas" by Tyler et al., 1994, plates 11e and 26 "Butterflies: Beauty and Behavior of Brazilian Species" by Otero and Marigo, 1990, page 91 While this midsize caterpillar does resemble that of P. thoas*, I believe it can be distinguished by the less amount of white blotching and two pairs of prominent anal tubercles. I'd love to be proven wrong, Sérgio, so hopefully you'll succeed in keeping track of this cat. * In my experience/opinion, the larvae shown in possibly two of the referenced links are misidentified (the authors probably relying upon someone else's word or assumption), with comparably sized P. thoas appearing thusly . . . www.flickr.com/photos/mariosacramentophotos/5285186709/ www.wildhorizons.com/wp/wp-content/gallery/WildCostaRica_EditorialGallery2/images/page36.html

I didn't find any record of Heraclides hectorides. I only know that Hectorides is quite common in your area (Thoas as well) and I know Keith as an expert for caterpillars. So if Keith thinks it is Hectorides than he might be right. At least we had the same genus ;-)...

Pretty sure it is Heraclides thoas: http://www.flickr.com/photos/grandma-shirley/5322245453/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainforests/5223057955/

Almost but not completely mature, with probably two instars (about 12 days) to go before reaching its time to pupate.