Papilio eurymedon and Allancastria cerisyi Pupae Now Pharate

Four of our pale swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon) pupae are now showing visible signs of development. Originated from Utah and Oregon. 

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On May 9 and May 13, our Smerinthus ophthalmica pupae and luna (Actias luna) cocoons started eclosing, respectively, and now we are getting some clear signs that the eurymedons (Papilio eurymedons) and eastern festoons (Allancastria cerisyi​) are about to burst as well. 

Four of the eurymedons are, to varying degree, pharate. The two leftmost pupae in the top left image below used to be bright green and are more transparent, although they do seem to be the furthest in development as well. One thing to notice is that the wing plates on these pharate pupae is yellow; on the pharate pupae of the other tiger species (e.g. P. rutulus, P. multicaudata, P. glaucus) they tend to be orange. The euymedon adults are, of course, much paler in color than the other species and the pigmentation of the uninflated wing reflects that here. On another note, we are down to only nine of these pupae now (from 12) and, interestingly, these four are the smallest of the nine. It is likely that they are males but, ideally, it would be best if at least one of them is female so that we have a better chance at obtaining a pairing. 

None of the eastern festoons seem to be dead; we still have all 12 that we started with. Many of them now show signs of development, but only two, shown below, look very close to eclosing. 

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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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