Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together_UPDATED more photos

[Don in SJ]

We have two nice size Rue plants in our flowerbed next to the house, I do not particularly like how wild they grow and must be pruned each year, but for the past 5 or 6 years, the Black Swallowtail Butterfly loves to lay their eggs on the Rue plant for the younguns to munch on and grow up on till they pupae and turn into beautiful Butterflies.

Sometimes as many as 30 or more are on the two plants and the process is done several times up till first frost. So, the Rue plants will stay since we all love to see Butterflies.

I must add, they are just hatching the one in the photo is not even a 1/4" in length, and he is one of the bigger ones right now!

 

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[CarolinaDigs]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

Beautiful pics Don

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

Don, that is so nice! Can we see pictures when they grow up?

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

Oh yeah...we wanna see grown up pictures too! That is so cool!

 

[Don in SJ]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

Since the Swallowtail has been doing this for quite a few years, I do have a sequence already of the adult caterpillar turning into a butterfly, I will look on my CD archives and find it and add it to this post, hopefully today.

Don

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

You are the best! Thanks!

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

I can't wait to see Don! I figured you like this post Sis.

 

[Don in SJ]

Re: Rue and Black Swallowtail - Perfect together

OK, I checked my files and found these photos from September 2003. I added yesterday's photo in the beginning to show just after hatching from egg size.
I will document this current batch. I have notice over the years that sometimes the caterpillars are a different color, same markings, but different color, so not sure if it is another species or not.........
Either way, they are cool to watch grow on the Rue plants every year.

Don

 

[Cynangyl]

Wow! what a process and you managed to get it all! So cool! Thanks so much!

 

[diggitdoggie]

Don, those are beautiful!!
What a wonderful post.

DD

 

[COUNTRY GIRL]

I love it! I wonder if the color diffrence has anything to do with the weather? Cold snowy winter, or lack there of, like the wooly bears markings? Very nice photo story, I'm going back to look again!

 

[Don in SJ]

June18th Update They are getting bigger!

Spiders and birds are taking a toll on the caterpillars but I did manage to see two this morning that I could photograph, they are about just over an inch long now.....

Don