Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site - Papilio

Papilio eurymedon

admin — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:19 +0000

Common from the lower foothills to tree-line; not often seen in the Central Valley. Our only tiger-striped Swallowtail with a white or whitish ground color, and the only one that is always single-brooded (April-August at low elevations, June-September in the high country). Males patrol canyon bottoms but also hilltop, especially in chaparral. Both sexes are avid flower visitors. In the foothills they are often seen on Vetch, Yerba Santa, Blue Dicks, Ithuriel's Spear, and California Buckeye. They are extremely attracted to the orange Western Wallflower and to our native Lilies, especially the white L. washingtonianum; on the Sierran West slope many specimens will be found plastered with sticky orange lily pollen.

Host plants Rhamnus and Ceanothus species (Rhamnaceae), though females have been observed numerous times laying eggs on White Sweet-Clover (Melilotus alba), a Fabaceous, herbaceous weed - presumably a mistake facilitated by some as-yet-unexplained chemical similarity.

A devout puddler, extremely photogenic when groups of dozens of young malwes aggregate by the side of the road.

Papilio indra

admin — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:18 +0000

This small, black-and-yellowish-white swallowtail occurs on rocky, treeless balds - on serpentine at low elevations and at and above tree-line. On our transect it occurs sporadically at Donner Pass but consistently at Castle and Basin Peaks. Males puddle. They patrol parallel to ridgetops but just below them, unlike the Anise Swallowtail which dominates the actual summits. A usually uncommon species with tremendous geographic variation over its range, but no significant variation in our area. It is single-brooded (June-July) and the hosts are native Apiaceae of the genera Cymopterus and Lomatium. The mature larva is remarkably showy, banded around the body in black and pink.

Papilio multicaudatus

admin — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:17 +0000

Generally uncommon in our area, largely confined to riparian corridors where it is greatly outnumbered by the Western Tiger Swallowtail. Generally rare to absent on the floor of the Central Valley. (Why?) Adults soar high in the trees, the males patrolling stream courses and roads. Two or three broods in the foothills; perhaps only one at Sierraville and at Verdi, NV, where quite common. Visits California Buckeye, Yerba Santa, Giant Hyssop, Milkweed, Lilies, and other large, showy flowers. Host plants Sycamore (Platanus), Ash (Fraxinus), Hop Tree (Ptelea), and Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana--perhaps other Prunus too).

Papilio rutulus

admin — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:16 +0000

Recorded at all sites. The Western Tiger Swallowtail is basically a species of riparian forest, where it glides majestically back and forth along the watercourse. It has expanded into older urban neighborhoods where several of its host genera are grown as shade trees, and behaves as if the street were a watercourse. In the high country and on the Sierran east slope its usual host is Aspen.

One brood (June-July) at higher elevations; one and a partial second at Washington; 2-3 at lower elevations with a long flight season (late February or March-September or October). An avid puddler. Visits Yerba Santa, California Buckeye, Milkweed, Dogbane, Lilies, Coyotemint, etc., etc. and in gardens frequent at Lilac and Buddleia. Spring individuals are smaller and usually paler than summer. Low-elevation hosts include Sycamore (Platanus), Ash (Fraxinus), Cherry and other stone fruits (Prunus), Willow (Salix), Privet (Ligustrum), Lilac (Syringa) and (in Sacramento County) Sweet Gum (Liquidambar).

Papilio zelicaon

admin — Sun, 28 May 2006 18:08:15 +0000

The Anise Swallowtail is a complex set of ecological races, or "ecotypes," whose seasonality has been adjusted by natural selection to match that of their host plants. Selection for adaptive life-history traits seems to have proceeded much faster than evolution at the level of neutral molecular loci.

At sea level our populations are strongly multivoltine, with only weak, facultative pupal diapause. They have several generations (late February or March-October) and breed very largely on Sweet Fennel ("Anise"), Foeniculum vulgare, and (in the first half of the season) Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum. Both of these are naturalized European weeds. We believe this ecotype originally lived in the tule marshes and bred on Water Hemlock (Cicuta) and another Apiaceous plant named Oenanthe. These are still used, but only rarely in comparison to the weeds; they are the only native hosts avalable in the Mediterranean summer that could have sustained repeated breeding. In some parts of the Central Valley, the two species of the naturalized genus Ammi (Bishop's Weed, Toothpick Weed), which are summer annuals, attract ovipositing females - but they are 100% toxic to the larvae. Either selection will improve the butterfly's discriminatory abilities, or result in the ability to detoxify these plants! In some localities (for example, Negro Bar State Park near Folsom) the most important host is Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Carrot (Daucus carota), another naturalized weed but spotty in its distribution and not found at any of our sites.

On serpentine in the Coast Range and Sierra foothills occur obligately single-brooded populations with very strong (often multi-year) diapause. These feed on native species of the Apiaceous genus Lomatium, which are only available for a few weeks in spring. These butterflies fly March-June, depending on locality. These races do not occur at our transect sites.

At all our Sierran sites the populations are basically single-brooded, but with a partial second brood some years (even at Donner). They feed on a great variety of Apiaceae, varying by site; at Washington on Lomatium, Perideridia and Tauschia; at Lang and Donner, mostly on Angelica; at Castle Peak on Cymopterus and Lomatium; and at Sierra Valley on Lomatium and (second brood only, when it occurs) Conium.

In the far northern Sacramento Valley and in southern California there are multivoltine races feeding on the tender shoots of cultivated Citrus (Rutaceae)! The commonality is secondary chemistry, shared with Apiaceae. There are no records on Citrus in our area. Chemically unusual Apiaceae, such as the genera Sanicula, Eryngium and Hydrocotyle, are never used, nor is the sister-family Araliaceae which does not share the usual chemistry.

In multivoltine populations the spring brood is typically small, pale, heavily marked with blue and with narrow dark borders on all wings. Summer individuals are larger, with richer yellow color, broader black borders and little or no blue in males. Univoltine populations tend to be intermediate between these extremes. The small larvae resemble bird droppings. Large larvae are pale green with black bands containing orange spots; in hot, dry sites there is more green and less black, while under cool, humid conditions the green may even disappear! The pupae may be brown or green.

Adults puddle and are addicted to hilltopping; at Castle Peak one may see dozens of males a day. In flat country males are territorial perchers in sunflecks, as in riparian forest. Both sexes visit a vast array of flowers, including Yerba Santa, Coyotemint, Blue Dicks, Ithuriel's Spear, California Buckeye, Thistles, Buttonbush... and on and on.