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Species Battus philenor - Pipevine Swallowtail - Hodges#4157
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Papilionoidea (Butterflies)
Family Papilionidae (Swallowtails)
Subfamily Papilioninae
Genus Battus
Species philenor (Pipevine Swallowtail - Hodges#4157)
Other Common Names Blue Swallowtail (Comstock, How to Know the Butterflies, 1904; Weed, Butterflies Worth Knowing, 1922)
The Philenor (Jaeger, Life of North American Insects, 1859) Identification Irridescent Blue/black pattern on upper surface is distinctive when fresh. Can be confused with other members of its mimicry complex--see comments below. The Pipevine flutters its wings incessantly while nectaring--I suspect this is part of its mechanisms for advertising distastefulness. (This is original speculation by the author--PC.) Some others in its complex, notably the Black Swallowtail, seem to do this too.
Male has very iridescent upper surfaces of hindwings. Female has less striking iridescence. Underside has a single median row of orange spots which do not touch each other.
Caterpillar is quite distinctive, may be a mimic of the tropical onychophorans, called velvet worms. Dark brownish black (occasionally smoky red) with soft fleshy tentacle-like projections, usually red-orange dorsal warts over abdomen. Tentacles on T1 twice as long as those on following segments.
Range Southern United States, to southern Mexico. Habitat In eastern US, old fields, etc. near woodlands with hostplant. Season Mid-summer in eastern United States. Does not fly as late into fall as other swallowtails. Caterpillars present from June into fall in temperate areas. Food Larvae feed on Aristolochia species. These include "Pipevine" or "Dutchman's Pipe", Aristolochia species (tomentosa, durior, reticulata, californica), as well as Virginia Snakeroot, Aristolochia serpentaria. Larvae presumably take up toxic secondary compounds from their hostplant. Both larvae and adults are believed toxic to vertebrate predators, and both have aposematic (warning) coloration.
Adults nectar on a variety of flowers, including asteraceae. Males take fluids from damp sand. Life Cycle Two or three flights per year in North Carolina. Flies all year in tropical Mexico. Overwinters as chrysalis in temperate areas. In North Carolina, P. Coin has noticed two colors of chrysalises produced in mid-summer. One was green, and an adult emerged from these in about two weeks. Several others were dark brown. One overwintered, (chrysalis formed May 30, 2004) emerging on May 10, 2005, almost one year later. Remarks The beautiful Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor, is the model of a Batesian mimicry complex. The members of this complex present a confusing array of blue-and-black butterflies in the summer months in the eastern United States. These include the Spicebush Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail (female), Tiger Swallowtail (dark phase, female), Red-spotted Purple and Diana Fritillary (female). Sample photos are below:
There is some indication that the Spicebush and Black Swallowtails are also distasteful, so the complex is partly Mullerian as well (1). In the central and western US, Old World Swallowtail ( Papilio machaon, form bairdi), Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra), and Ozark Swallowtail ( Papilio joanae) have dark blue/black forms, probably mimics of the Pipevine Swallowtail (2). See Also Mimics: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (female, dark phase), Black Swallowtail (female), Spicebush Swallowtail, Red-spotted Purple, Diana Fritillary. See Black Swallowtail for comparisons of the mimics.
Larva of Battus polydamas is somewhat similar, but fleshy projections are orange, shorter on T1 and longer on the rest of the body than those of B. philenor. Usually has muted diagonal striping. Print References Schappert p. 182, pp. 184-188, detailed discussion of mimicry complex (1)
Glassberg p. 43, plate 1 (3)
Scott, species #25, pp. 185-186, plates 7, 8--adult, figs. 34--wings in ultraviolet, 51--larva, 52--chrysalis (4)
Allen pp. 41-42, plate 1--adult, 31--larva (5)
Allen, pp. 28-29--photos of larva, adult (6)
Wright, pp. 74-75, color illustrations of larva, adult, chrysalis (7)
Wagner, p. 77--photo of caterpillar, discussion of possible mimicry by caterpillar (8)Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-MasonLast updated 10 June, 2007 - 4:25am |
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