Congrats and what a money shot!! Hope you get loads of eggs from your ELF to be...

Here is another shot of the underside of their little bodies. Look how much fuller the abdomen is of the top butterfly. I assumed that butterfly was the male but would his body be so much larger than that of a female? Maybe, like humans, they come in all body sizes, no matter the gender.

Mary

This post was edited by mary_littlerockar on Sat, Jul 13, 13 at 17:48

Top butterfly is female. And she is just FULL of eggs:) Soon you'll have lots of eggs.
Keep that Aristolochia growing!!

Congrats, congrats, Mary!

Seeing your picture caused me to go through my old pictures -

{{gwi:475027}}

Mating pipevine swallowtails are so beautiful - all that iridescent blue!

Sherry

WOW! Again, what a money shot. That blue is gorgeous.

Sherry, they are such beautiful butterflies! You photo has so much better color, just lovely. Now, I'm already getting the different butterflies mixed up. I guess it's the Spicebush Swallowtails where the true blue denotes a female? I'll never keep all of these little jewels straight! :-)

Thanks, Larry, for the clarification.

Larry, the little pigs have just about finished it off. They're gonna have to learn to live with the tough Aristolochia tomentosa leaves that are left. I'm going to grow another small patch of the Aristolochia fimbriata, as the cats seem safer on the ground and I think they prefer the tender leaves of the fimbriata.

after the feast ... Pipevine Swallowtail cats have eaten the Aristolochia fimbriata down to the bare vines and there must be 15-20 cats still feeding on them

{{gwi:505754}}

I'm going to have to move the little cats up to what is left of the Aristolochia tomentosa and hope the wasps don't find them

{{gwi:457488}}

Mary

Simply awesome pics Mary!!!!! Wow. I am impressed indeed. What a thrill it must be to have them. Thanks for sharing with us. I am still trying to establish enough Pipevine in my yard to get cats.
Angie

Thank you, Angie, for your kind comments.

This is my best year for the Pipevine Swallowtails. I do have three different areas of Aristolochia tomentosa, plus the small bed of Aristolochia fimbriata. I believe this is probably my third year of growing these plants. Your vines will grow stronger each year and you'll soon be enjoying lots of these lovely butterflies, too.

Late yesterday, I moved 31 cats from the Aristolochia fimbriata onto the Aristolochia tomentosa vines. There was one small cat that looked like he was preparing to molt so I didn't bother him. He was gone this morning, poor little thing. Something probably got him last night as he was pretty exposed on the ground vines. In hindsight, I probably should have moved him with the hope it wouldn't damage him.

I have many Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies, cats in various stages of growth and eggs galore. It looks like I'll be enjoying these Pipevine swallowtails the remainder of the summer (if the food holds up)! It is so delightful to step outside and see them swooping all over and stopping to nectar. To my eye, it seems to me they are pretty much living out their life cycle right here in my yard. This is such a wonderous sight to experience.

Mary
Monarch Waystation # 6730
... interested in planting Milkweed to help the Monarch Butterfly, check out:
MonarchWatch.org 'Milkweed Market' ... http://tinyurl.com/c5oeesu