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Eastern Black Swallowtail Caterpillar

By Lorraine

Black swallowtail caterpillars on parsley plant
 See what I found on my parsley? A colorful swallowtail caterpillar.
Once it is old enough, it will form a chrysalis. It will overwinter in the chrysalis, meaning it won’t hatch into an adult until Spring. Next year this caterpillar will be a beautiful eastern black swallowtail butterfly.

There are affiliate links in this post. That means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything additional.

Black swallowtail

Life cycle of black swallowtail butterflies

Female butterflies lay single eggs on host plants. This is usually on the new foliage and sometimes on flowers. The egg stage lasts four to nine days. Next is the larval (caterpillar) stage lasting 10–30 days.  The pupal stage is 18 days although the duration of these stages may vary depending on temperature and the host plants.

 

Caterpillars feed on a host parsley plant for nourishment. These caterpillars will transform into black swallowtail butterflies.
This parsley plant is covered in caterpillars. The black swallowtail caterpillar is often called the parsley worm because the caterpillar feeds on in.  You can see how much of the plant has been eaten by the caterpillars.

 

Emergence from chrysalis

Winter is spent in the chrysalis stage. Adults will emerge from the chrysalis in the spring and seek out host plants. When an adult butterfly finally emerges from the chrysalis, it will wait a few hours for its wings to fill with blood and dry, before flying for the first time.
black swallowtail on buddleia plant
After the transformation, called metamorphosis, it will look like this butterfly visiting our butterfly bush.
 black swallowtail on buddleia plant

The Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilo polyxenes) is a common swallowtail butterfly. Both male and female Eastern Black Swallowtails are bluish-black with yellow spots on the wings. They also have two orange eyespots with black dots in the middle.

The male has a yellow band on the hind-wings with a blue cloud under it. The female has a row of yellow dots above a blue band. It’s easiest to remember that males have more yellow.

Life expectancy of black swallowtail

Compared to other butterflies, members of the black swallowtail are long lived. Because they are quick, they are able to avoid many predators. Adult butterflies are at the highest risk for danger when they are incapable of flight or are starved because of poor weather.

Black swallowtail butterfly

Some interesting facts about butterflies

A group of butterflies is sometimes called a flutter.

Many adult butterflies never excrete waste – they use up all they eat for energy.

Butterfly wings are clear. The colors and patterns we see are made by the reflection of the tiny scales covering them.

Butterfly wings move in a figure “8” motion.

Some butterfly species lay their eggs on only one type of plant.

Skipper butterflies fly so fast they could outpace a horse, but most butterflies fly at 5 to 12 miles per hour

Butterflies have a long, tube-like tongue called a proboscis that allows them to soak up their food rather than sip it.

Males drink from mud puddles to extract minerals that aren’t available in flowers. This behavior is known as “puddling.”

 

There are affiliate links in this post. That means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but it won’t cost you anything additional.

black swallowtail caterpillars on parsley plant

   

Filed Under: Birds & Butterflies, Home and Garden Tagged With: butterflies

Comments

  1. happeningswithLana says

    August 27, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    When our two kids were younger we would collect a few caterpillars and put them in a butterfly house and watch them and release the butterflies. Fed them milk weed. Pictures brought back great memories.

    Reply
  2. Linda says

    August 26, 2010 at 6:51 pm

    Great photos…we have Yellow Tiger Swallowtails here, although I never manage to see the catapillers.

    Reply
  3. Ann says

    August 25, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    Amazing photos. Love the colors of that caterpillar. The butterfly is just gorgeous.

    Reply
  4. Valerie says

    August 25, 2010 at 10:48 am

    I must not have any near me then as they probably need to overwinter in a warm place, do you think?

    Reply
  5. Jennifurla says

    August 25, 2010 at 4:20 am

    Oh wow, this is such a pretty caterpillar.

    Reply
  6. NanaDiana says

    August 25, 2010 at 2:05 am

    Now THAT'S a miracle! Diana

    Reply
  7. Mildred says

    August 25, 2010 at 1:41 am

    I love this time of year and all the butterfly activity. Your pictures are so pretty.

    Reply

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  1. Raised Bed Gardening Tips | Grateful Prayer | Thankful Heart says:
    July 17, 2018 at 5:01 am

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Hi! I'm Lorraine. Welcome to Grateful Prayer Thankful Heart. A place to find food for your tummy, projects for your hands, and encouragement for your heart.

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