2017 August 24

 

   Jeremy Tatum writes:  Here is a chrysalis of a Western Tiger Swallowtail.  These swallowtails are quite clever.  The pupae can vary in colour from green to brown, depending on the background upon which they are formed.  If they pupate in a well-lit area among green leaves, they will be green; but if they pupate in a darker area they are brown.  This one chose a particularly dark area, and it is one of the darkest swallowtail pupae that I have seen.  By the way, in case you are wondering, it is facing toward the left.

 

Western Tiger Swallowtail Papilio rutulus Jeremy Tatum

   Below is the third photograph that I have taken of this caterpillar because at first I thought it was a lifer for me.  By the time that it reached its final instar, however, I realized that it was a Yellow Woolly Bear, or Virginia Ermine.

 

Spilosoma virginica (Lep.: Erebidae – Arctiinae) Jeremy Tatum

   The  caterpillar below, found on willow at King’s Pond, is quite small, and I am hoping it will grow. It is long and slender and it walks in full looper fashion just like a geometrid.  However, the number of midabdominal prolegs isn’t right for a geometrid.  It has two functional pairs and two vestigial pairs, and it may belong to another family.  [Added later:  As the caterpillar grew, it became obvious that it wasn’t a geometrid.  It is a Zale.]

Zale sp. (Lep.: Erebidae)    Jeremy Tatum