Amazingly, there is a native Kansan that can join in the tropical romp, Asimina triloba, the Pawpaw tree. My zone six heart longs for the heat of the tropical twelve so I create my “Tropics of Kansas” each summer with Cannas, Caladiums, and Castor Beans. Zone envy is a common affliction among northern gardeners. NABA member Lenora Larson has graciously allowed us to reprint it here. The following article originally appeared in Butterfly Gardener (Vol. Importance as a butterfly nectar source: The pawpaw tree is not a source of butterfly nectar. If you want to find the caterpillars, check the underside of the leaves as this is where they live and eat. Individual pale green eggs are generally laid on the lower leaves. Importance as a caterpillar food source: Zebra Swallowtails use pawpaw leaves as a food source. The zebra swallowtail prefers corridors of wooded land alongside bodies of water such as riversides, lakeshores, marshes and open moist woods.Other common names for this plant include Poor Man's Banana. Very rare stragglers as far as New England. Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) Central Pennsylvania west to eastern Great Plains south through most of Florida and into Texas. There has only been a single specimen observed as of December 28, 2015. The Zebra Swallowtail is considered rare at the GTM and was spotted along the open habitat of Transect A in late September.
marcellus caterpillars ingest chemicals called annonaceous acetogenins from their host plants, which are retained in the body tissues of both the caterpillar and the adult, and may help chemically protect the butterfly from birds. The Zebra Swallowtail caterpillar feeds only on species within the genus Asimina. Other Physical Features: ectothermic heterothermic bilateral symmetry The first is green with yellow and black bands, and the other is dark brown with orange and white bands. There are two color morphologies of caterpillars. This releases a bad smell that is used as defense mechanism. They have a forked gland called the osmeterium that can protrude from the back of the head if the butterfly is alarmed. Summer forms are larger, have broader black stripes, and longer, black tails with white edges.Ĭaterpillars are generally hairless. Spring forms are smaller, more white, and have short, black tails with white tips. marcellus has two seasonal forms, one occurring in the spring and the other in the summer. A red stripe runs along the middle of the ventral hind wing. The inner margin of the hind wing has two blue spots on the corner and a red spot near the body. A pair of swordlike tails extend from the hind wings. The triangular wings are white to greenish-white with black longitudinal stripes.
The Zebra Swallowtail has a wingspan of 6.4 to 10.4 cm (2.5 to 4.1 in). The butterflies are closely associated with pawpaws, and are rarely found far from these trees.
Its distinctive wing shape and long tails make it easy to identify, and its black and white-striped pattern is reminiscent of a zebra. The Zebra Swallowtail ( Protographium marcellus, formerly listed under genera Eurytides, Iphiclides, Graphium and Papilio by some authorities) is a swallowtail butterfly native to the eastern United States and southeast Canada.
0 kommentar(er)
