P. glaucus Rearing Notes (8/16/16-8/21/16)

The second installment of rearing notes for our 13 Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) that were obtained as chrysalises from an Ohio breeder from 8/16-8/21. ​

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Rearing Notes 8/16/16-8/21/16:

8/21:

​Female Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) Expanding Wings*

* Shown in 8x speed

• The third pharate chrysalis has eclosed into a yellow form female; it is also very small like the last one but not crippled
• Fed the now nearly dead males in preperation for hand-pairing (last row left); managed to hand-pair with the largest male that we paired with the first female
• Count:
  • Butterflies: 10
    • Female: 5 (1 escaped, 1 missing)
      • Yellow form: 2
      • Black form: 3
    • Male: 5 (1 dead);
  • Chrysalises: 3

8/20:

• A third pharate chrysalis is of the yellow form and is probably male
• The two pharate chrysalises eclosed into a yellow form female and a black form female
• The yellow one was miniature (about 3 inches) with mildly crumpled wings and a very unhealthy looking abdomen and is probably unusable for hand-pairing
• After many attempts, we finally managed to hand-pair the black female with one of the old males (it was difficult because they are all very old and beat up)
• Count:
  • Butterflies: 9
    • Female: 4 (1 escaped, 1 missing)
      • Black form: 3
      • Yellow form: 1
    • Male: 5
  • Chrysalis: 4 

8/19:

• A black form female chrysalis is becoming pharate

8/18:

• Two of the chrysalises are becoming pharate and has a orange color so probably males

8/17:

• The gravid female escaped and the crippled female died -- seems we're out of luck until another female ecloses

8/16:

• The gravid female still hasn't laid any eggs and seems to be having trouble flying and crawling for some reason despite that the wings and legs are not damaged; even when thrown in the air it will plummet to the ground after flapping a few times
• New new chrysalises eclosed so went ahead and hand-paired the crippled female with the first male that eclosed on 8/12

- Alan, Brian