Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

Giant Swallowtail 

My friend Kris found a butterfly lying in middle of the street one morning, apparently dead.  It was a cool morning and some butterflies will go dormant if the temperature is too low, so she picked it up and placed it in the sun, where it eventually revived, tested its wings and flew off.

She sent me a picture of it and asked if I knew what kind of butterfly it was. Thanks to our handy dandy Butterflies of Southern California guide, we identified it as a Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes.

Yesterday Cindy came in with a leaf from one of the citrus trees with an incredibly ugly creature on it.  We weren't sure at first whether it was a worm, a slug or a caterpillar, but thanks to the same butterfly guide by Jim Brock, we identified it as the larval stage of the Giant Swallowtail.

Citrus trees are the host plant for this butterfly, and the larva are well camouflaged as citrus twigs or branches as they devour the leaves.

Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar

We carefully placed the caterpillar back on the citrus tree so it can continue to munch its way along toward metamorphosis.

It's amazing that something so ugly can turn into a beautiful butterfly.

Caterpillar on Citrus Leaves

Photograph of Giant Swallowtail copyright Kristin Shipley, used by permission.  All other photographs copyright Kay Teeters.  All rights reserved.