Hobbies And Interests
The Caterpillar
The caterpillar is black or red with fleshy protections, red orange warts on the abdomen, and long tentacles, with the two longest in the rear. It's found in forest edges, pine lands and woodlands. The caterpillar mimics the velvet worm, which has a unique way of catching food; it launches strings of slime from its head that ensnare its prey. The pipevine swallowtail caterpillar is gregarious during its early stages, then solitary later on.
Pipevine
The pipevine is poisonous to other animals, but not the pipevine swallowtail larva. Moreover, the caterpillar incorporates the plant's toxins and uses them to guard against predators. The protection even extends to the adult butterfly, and many other butterflies mimic the pipevine swallowtail to discourage their own predators. Pipevine is a member of the Aristolochia genus or the birthwort family. It's a woody vine with heart-shaped leaves and large, strange and sometimes carrion-scented flowers. The undersurface of the leaf is downy and whitish. The flower was thought to resemble a fetus, and so was used as an aid in childbirth. The habitat is rich moist woods and stream banks from southwestern Pennsylvania to Alabama and Appalachia.
Food Plants for the Butterfly: Bergamot ad Brodieas
Bergamot is a member of the mint family and has a rounded cluster of lavender tubular flowers t the top of a square stem. The plant grows from 2 to 4 feet high and flowers from June to September in dry fields, thickets, and borders. It grows from Quebec to Western New England, to Georgia and Alabama, Louisiana and eastern Texas and beyond. Its fragrant leaves can be used to make mint tea. Brodieas are western flowers that grow in meadows and sunny hillsides. The bell-like flowers are pale blue or violet and grow on twisted bare stems 6 to 20 inches tall. It's also called wild hyacinth and firecracker flower.
Viper's Bugloss and Gilias
Viper's bugloss is native to Europe but has spread over pastures, roadsides and waste places in the eastern United states. It has spikes of blue to purple tubular showy flowers. The stem and leaves are hairy and give the plant a silvery appearance. It grows from 1 to 2 feet high. Gilias grow mainly in deserts and mountains west of the Mississippi River and can come in many colors from blue to white to orange to red. All gilias have five-petaled funnel-shaped flowers. They grow from 5 inches to 2 feet tall and have rough or sticky stems.