Can anyone identify this butterfly from this picture? http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2001147880103309036LXcQte Does that pic show enough detail?
Many thanks!!
J
Butterfly ID?
erm...black swallowtail? check against this site's photos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Swallowtail
This message was edited Aug 26, 2008 10:36 PM
Oooo Melissande... I think you got it. :) Thanks! I thought I had another (different) butterfly pic but I cant locate it on my computer.
This message was edited Aug 26, 2008 10:28 PM
No, close, but actually, I think it's one of the other swallowtails. I just saw a pic yesterday that was a closer match...let me see if I can find it.
M
Okay. It's a pipevine swallowtail. The spots down the abdomen gives it away. See this site for confirmation.--Melis
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.carolinanature.com/butterflies/pipevine2458.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.carolinanature.com/butterflies/pipevineswt.html&h=387&w=350&sz=37&hl=en&start=3&usg=__O14RHwvdvVWZFfEExqqU5k4QE0Y=&tbnid=UCzhEYj2-T_B9M:&tbnh=123&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpipevine%2Bswallowtail%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
Thanks Melis! That link mentions pipevine swallowtails are more often found in the moutains.. well, WV is called "The Mountain State," in fact our house sits on the side of such a mountainous slope that we walk down 5 steps to get into the back door and leaving via the front door we go down another 10 steps. We
I was actually out cutting back my petunias yesterday and found 2 caterpillars! I need to get pics and post them for ID - one is green with a lighter yellowish horizontal stripe and the other is tan with brown horizontal stripes on each side, with little "spots" of darker color along the stripe. They were on the petunias, so I put some petunia scraps in the jar for them to eat. I have no clue where to find milk weed and I don't want to starve them, is there anything else they will eat?
I'm not-so-great with the caterpillar ID etc., so you'll have to wait for others to chime in, I'm afraid.
Melis
What they will eat depends on what variety they are. They do not all eat the same plants. Do you have pics?