April: Butterfly of the Month
Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)
The Anise Swallowtail adult has black "shoulders," an easy field mark to differentiate it from the Western Tiger Swallotail which is also present in the park. Right now, it's laying eggs on members of the carrot family (Apiaceae ) since there is little anise in the park. The egg is spherical and cream to pale green, shading to rust and finally black before it hatches. This final instar larva, shown below, has light green and black stripes with yellow dots.
The pupa below left is brown, but some are
green. Marilyn raised a number of p. zelicaon, and had one larva
that diapaused in the pupal stage for one year plus 171 days. It began pupation
in late September 1992 and emerged mid-March 1994.
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