#battus

[coffeenuts]

[saritawolf]

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[herpsandbirds]

Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, family Papilionidae, Ohio, USA

photograph by Gayle Pille

[drhoz]

#1973 - Manyspotted Pipevine Swallowtail - Battus polystictus

In Greek mythology, Battus is a shepherd who witnessed Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle. Because he broke his promise not to reveal this theft, Hermes turned him to stone. Because whenever a mortal gets involved in the gods’ bullshit, it’s never the gods that actually suffer.

A Swallowtail from from the Neotropics, occurring in the Atlantic Forest and Pampa biomes, where the caterpillars eat three species in the highly poisonous Dutchman’s Pipes genus Aristolochia. Somehow they’re unaffected by the fact that aristocholic acid is carcinogenic, mutagenic, and nephrotoxic - indeed, it likely the toxin makes other animals reluctant to snack on them.

Male and female are mostly similar in appearance, but the male has a pale yellow stripe on the upper side of his abdomen.

[butterfly-and-moth-species]

Battus philenor

Battus philenor - Pipevine swallowtail

Family: Papilionidae

[lessoninfutility]

Fantroll doodle dump

Jonnie “Goofer” (Burgundy), Battus (Purple), Opocht (Violet)

[eumorpha-dream]

Back to bugs! This is Battus philenor, the Pipevine Swallowtail. This is one of many we found in PA on our trip. As it’s common name suggests, it feeds on Pipevine (Aristolochia). Sometimes this butterfly can become so numerous in gardens that the larvae will defoliate entire vines. They’re pretty spectacular though. The best part? They feel like gummies. They’re the original gummy caterpillar. #Caterpillar #Battus #Battusphilenor #PipevineSwallowtail #PipevineSwallowtailButterfly #Butterfly #Insect #Bug #Butterflies #igclub_butterfly https://www.instagram.com/p/B1hQW2_gBJF/?igshid=1364kieuenigb

[calosoma-amitch]

Pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor), Newark DE. Caterpillars from July 2017. Adults emerged August 1.  A distinctive caterpillar, pipevine swallowtails possess a pair of large, tentacle-like structures on their thorax. As the swallowtail has a tropical ancestry, it is believed that these caterpillars mimic the velvet worms of the amazon. The caterpillars are also considered to be toxic to predators, as they consume and store toxic chemicals from their primary host plant, the pipevine (Arisolochia spp.).

Two generation a year in the Mid-Atlantic. Adults in May-June, caterpillars late June onward. Caterpillars turn into chrysalids in the fall and overwinter.