Oregon Swallowtail Eggs Arrive

Our Oregon swallowtail (Papilio machaon oregonius) eggs have arrived from an Oregon breeder.

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Since swallowtails are one of our favorite butterflies to rear, we decided to have a try at the Oregon Swallowtail (Papilio machaon oregonius), a subspecies of the Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon) endemic to the Pacific Northwest. ​The Oregon swallowtail is extremely similar to our Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) and the two are difficult to distinguish and probably produce hybrids where the two are sympatric. However, there are a few differences between the two, both phenotypically and in larval host plant choices. The Oregon Swallowtail is more yellow in appearance because the black margin and vein markings on the wings are thinner, and the row of marginal yellow spots are larger. Also, the black stripes on the abdomen are much thinner making the abdomen look yellow with black stripes while the Anise swallowtail's looks black with yellow stripes. In addition, the Oregon swallowtail's red eyespot pupils are typically smaller and touch the margin of the eyespot while the Anise Swallowtail's do not. The caterpillars have little phenotypic differences if any (Oregon seems to have thinner black bands and thicker green ones) but specialize on different hosts in the wild. The Oregon Swallowtail caterpillars mainly feed on Artemesia, such as tarragon and rarely use Apiaceae such as fennel. On the other hand, Anise swallowtail caterpillars feed exclusively on Apiaceae and occasionally Rutaceae such as rue or citrus. We will likely try to feed our Oregon Swallowtails caterpillars tarragon if we can get some but otherwise just use fennel like with Anise. 

​Today we had 14 eggs arrive from an Oregon breeder but unfortunately 5 were lost upon opening the container. A few have brown rings beginning to form, indicating embryonic development. The appearance of the eggs are nearly identical to those of Anise Swallowtails but seem to be a richer yellow. 

- Alan