The night time temps are dropping here and the Bugs are trying to wrap things up for winter. While washing windows, my daughter found quite a few Chrysalis and caterpillars including an odd ball. I am use to seeing Black Swallowtail Caterpillars like the second photo - with a little variation. But the Cat in the first photo is way out of the normal range of variation here. It seemed healthy enough - is it a Black Swallowtail?
Well, I think I may have answered my own question. A little research shows that there is a subspecies "coloro", Desert Black Swallowtail, that has more black on the caterpillar and more yellow on the adult. A little genetic diversity is a good thing - the females I saw this summer seemed undersized with smaller duller markings.
