Saturday, March 31

Butterfly

Transformation from a small larva to a
large butterfly..


  • Timeline 21 days
  • No of subjects :8
  • Hatched :one,

Giant Swallowtail butterfly(Papilio
cresphontes)

In its early stages, the larva looks like
a bird dropping. to evade its predators..


Caterpillar swallowtail butterfly

..after its first molting. it turns into a better looking caterpillar..having huge false eyes on its upper side to evade predators. its real eyes are much below..near its mouth.It sticks out its antennae when threatened,and its a pretty uncommon sight...but my caterpillar showed its red feelers to me..and I captured them..

Sniff of familarity ?

This changes into a large caterpillar..this creature has grown over 3000 times its initial size....

Caterpillar..swallowtail..on lime tree.
The mature caterpillar transforms into a pupae..

..and finally emerges our as a beautiful butterfly..

Papilio cresphontes; giant black swallowtail butterfly

Seven more pupae will mature by this weekend..hopefully I can photograph them all :)