Today we found a whopping three dozen giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) eggs scattered among several rue (Ruta graveolens) plants at the Cornell Botanic Gardens. It has been two days since we last visited the Cornell Botanic Gardens. We spent the weekend exploring other locations, thinking that we might have better luck finding new things since we have already been to the gardens many times since coming to Ithaca. When we came back for a brief checkup late this afternoon, we didn't really have high hopes for finding much, especially because it was not sunny and it had not been sunny in the previous days either. We were thoroughly surprised when we found several rue (Ruta graveolens) plants that were clobbered in Papilio cresphontes eggs. Almost all of them look to fresh, and because we check the plants carefully every time we have ever been to the garden, it was quite apparent that some female(s) for some reason just decided to let herself go and spilled everything. This pattern of abrupt egg laying, while probably holds true to some extent in many swallowtails and other species, is actually quite interesting based on our experience with female cresphontes. The things don't emerge with a single matured egg in them (after that it seem to take ages to build the eggs up) and when skinny wild-caught females are put to work, they never lay or show any behavior indicating a desire to lay. In the wild, the females probably nectar for many days before they finally decide to fulfill their duty, which can explain what we saw. It just so happens that there weren't that many rue plants and the plants themselves are very small (relative to tree hosts), both of which are ideal conditions to seal the deal for finding eggs in large numbers. Keep in mind that although we alone have seen or captured several females over multiple days in this area and the cresphontes flight is at a peak at this time of year in New York, this is our first time in ten days of looking that we have seen something like this. The eggs were consistently laid at the periphery of the plant, much like P. zelicaon and parsley (Petroselinum) (which has very similarly shaped leaves as rue). Also, most of the eggs seem to be laid on the bottom half of the plant, in what can be considered more hidden locations. Every single one was laid on the upper side of the leaf, which is typical of swallowtails. Like Battus philenor eggs, the grainy substance on the cresphontes eggs doesn't seem to give them a very good stick (at least on rue leaves) because a lot of the eggs fell off as or after they were collected. ![]() Authors Brian Liang
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Timeline 2017–present
Ithaca, New York This timeline is a series of daily posts recording our observations and experiences with various insects (primarily Lepidoptera) around the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, starting from the time we moved here in 2017. As this is a personal blog, we try to keep collections/rearings for university research and course work to a minimum, and mainly focus on just the species we catch and raise for our own fun and interest. Posts prior to this time can be viewed at Timeline 2012-2017: Albany, California, though there is occasionally some crossover when we have returned home during breaks or reared stock derived from home (see Albany, California Updates). Archives (232)
July 2020 (1) August 2019 (2) July 2019 (35) June 2019 (46) May 2019 (20) March 2019 (1) January 2019 (1) November 2018* October 2018* September 2018 (1)* August 2018 (9)* July 2018 (11)* June 2018 (22*) May 2018 (18)* April 2018 (2)* January 2018 (6) December 2017 (5) November 2017 (1) October 2017 (5) September 2017 (26) August 2017 (19) *Currently, a significant portion of 2018 posts are missing. The notes/photos for this time period are saved on our personal files but the posts were never built due to a busy schedule that year. We are still actively building these posts when we have the time. Authors
![]() ![]() Full Species List
(Alphabetical by scientific name) Note: - Not every species we encounter is necessarily presented on this site, rather a selection of those that were of particular interest to us and that we felt were worth documenting. - We can't guarantee that all species have been identified accurately, particularly taxa we are not as familiar with. Lepidoptera Actias luna Agraulis vanillae Allancastria cerisyi Amphion floridensis Ancyloxypha numintor Antheraea polyphemus Battus philenor hirsuta Callosamia promethea Colias eurytheme Citheronia regalis Cupido comyntas Danaus plexippus Darapsa myron Diadema inscriptum Epargyreus clarus Erynnis baptisiae Estigmene acrea Euchaetes egle Eumorpha pandorus Hemaris diffinis Hyalophora cecropia Limenitis archippus Liminitis arthemis arthemis Limenitis arthemis astyanax Manduca sexta Orgyia leucostigma Pachysphinx modesta Paonias myops Papilio cresphontes Papilio eurymedon Papilio glaucus Papilio polyxenes asterius Papilio rutulus Papilio troilus Papilio zelicaon Pyrgus communis Samia ricini Smerinthus ophthalmica Speyeria cybele Sphecodina abbottii Vanessa atalanta Vanessa cardui Vanessa virginiensis Lepidoptera Hybrids Papilio polyxenes asterius × Papilio zelicaon Orthoptera Conocephalus sp. Dissosteira carolina Melanoplus femurrubrum Neoconocephalus ensiger Neoxabea bipunctata Phasmatodea Carausius morosus Diapheromera femorata Mantodea Mantis religiosa Albany, California Updates |