The first of our pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) pupae has eclosed. Originated from Utah and Oregon. Late this afternoon, the first eurymedon (Papilio eurymedon) eclosed. It is a small male who has slightly crumpled, uneven wings (the left forewing is slightly indented upwards while the right one is indented inwards), a nasty abdomen, and scraggly looking third pair of legs. It is possible that this one is particularly weak or unhealthy or if the overwintering of the pupae generally took a tole on the pupae, seeing as so many of them have already died before making it this far. Nonetheless, it is still a stunning butterfly. Now seeing and P. eurymedon up close and photographing it for the first time, the commonly described differences between it an the other tiger species (e.g. P. rutulus, P. multicaudata, P. glaucus) are self-evident. Compare to some previous photographs of males of these other species that we have taken (do excuse the quality of the latter two images). Besides the thickness of the black stripes and the paleness of the yellow, the eurymedon has a very characteristic triangular wing shape; the fore- and hindwings are straight and pointy. The rutulus is also fairly triangular compared to glaucus and multicaudata, but not quite to the extent of eurymedon. Interestingly enough, this eurymedon has quite a lot of blue for how much black there is; generally, with rutulus, we observe that the smaller and blacker an individual is, the less blue. Like the multicaudata, eurymedon usually has two pairs of the spots at the tails that are orange/red like the one that eclosed today does, whereas rutulus has only one. ![]() Brian Liang Brian Liang is a student at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York pursuing an undergraduate degree in entomology. He is co-owner and a main contributor of the Liang Insects blog, insects articles, and site design.
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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 |