Caught a Female Anise Swallowtail

We caught a female anise swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) at Albany Hill (Albany, California)​.

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This year (actually, probably starting since last year in late summer), anise swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon) in particular have become extremely scarce and hard to come by. Last year around this time, we were finding dozens of eggs each week on local fennels (Foeniculum vulgare) without breaking a sweat, but this year it is rare to even find a few on our own. They seem to only come in small bursts when the weather heats up, but otherwise the butterflies are non-existent. 

It came as a surprise, then, that we would encounter a female anise swallowtail at Albany Hill. Not only is this the first wild anise we observed this year, it is the first that we have observed at Albany Hill. Normally, the place seems to be strictly the territory of western tiger swallowtails (Papilio rutulus) (many of which were flying at the time of the observance) that use the place to breed; not a whole lot of anise host plants grow there.  

We caught this female, which was flying quite low unlike tigers, and brought her home to try to get her to oviposit on our fennel. She seemed to be quite worn down with very few scales (creating a ghostly pale look like Papilio eurymedon) and a missing tail so it might be a little difficult to keep her alive for long. The abdomen is also quite skinny and doesn't feel to have a lot of eggs inside when gently squished. We will try to feed her as much as possible for the night and see if it helps.

Update: After two days outside, only one egg was laid before she died. Upon dissection, we discovered only about 15 eggs inside, possibly some immature. Perhaps, she was simply too old.

Authors
Brian Liang​

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