Male Papilio rumiko Ecloses

A male western giant swallowtail (Papilio rumiko) eclosed today, more or less okay.

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After two females from deformed pupae failed to emerge correctly, yesterday we were pretty relieved to see that the one that emerged today was more or less okay. It only has a slightly bent right hindwing where the blood must have gotten clotted up. Too bad that it is a male, so it wouldn't have actually mattered too much if it was one to be crippled. 

This is a very large male, coming from one of the largest pupa we had. It measures about 120 mm or almost 5 inches, larger than any western tiger (Papilio rutulus) we have every seen. The forewing shape gives the rumiko quite an advantage though. ​

When we took it outside and put it on the thistle, it immediately began to suck from it which was quite surprising since it had just eclosed. Moreover, we have always had trouble getting these to drink. The Papilio cresphontes we had last year had to be held down at honey solution in order to force them and the two females yesterday also show no interest at all. Perhaps they respond much better to real flowers and nectar compared to the honey solution that other swallowtails we have had drink readily from. 

The males' claspers are quite small. Like the females, it is slightly hard to squeeze the genitalia out. It is a bit worrisome for hand-pairing (I can see why we had trouble pairing the cresphontes last year) but hopefully it won't be a problem. We are still waiting for a good female to come out. So far, it looks like one of the two remaining female pupae is getting quite close. Otherwise, we will try to pair with the less crippled from that we have. Interestingly, compared to that female, the male his larger and has much lighter yellow. 

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Authors
Brian Liang

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