Dear All, I have just returned from Lachung. The ground is just recently free of snow hence very few herbs other than an early *Primula denticulata*. Have asked the family to look for the plant and caterpillars. Yes the herb is an aromatic umbellifer which is also apparently used medicinally locally, so people are familiar with it. Hope to have a picture in a month or so.
*Keith*, could you post pictures of caterpillars of Bhutanitis, Meandrusa, and Teinopalpus, so we'd know what to look for here? Thanks in advance, Usha On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 10:56 AM, Keith Wolfe <[email protected]>wrote: > > > All, having seen the distinctive caterpillar of Papilio machaon on three > continents, I would be VERY surprised if the Lachung photo shows anything > but a darkly patterned ("atypical") midsize larva of this butterfly. If not, > what else could it be? All other known Indian swallowtail cats look much > different or have adults that allow us to more or less reliably predict > their larval appearance, and the herb in Usha's image strongly resembles an > umbellifer (Apiaceae) -- another compelling indication of P. machaon, which > specializes on this aromatic plant family. > > Krushnamegh, Bhutanitis, Meandrusa, and Teinopalpus have radically > different caterpillars and host associations (yes, I have illustrations of > all three). > > Best wishes, > > Keith Wolfe > > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:46:17 -0000 (UTC) > Subject: Re: Re: [ButterflyIndia] 2 butterfly and 1moth cats and a > butterfly for id from Sikkim > Krushnamegh, I have bred heaps of machaon here: this is certainly not > machaon. I cannot suggest what it could be, but it might help narrow things > down a bit if the LFP were known. > > On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:16:21 +0530 wrote > > Peter, Lachung is pretty high elevation. What other swallowtails occur > there that would have this type of caterpillars? Please let me know, I do > not have much experience with early stages of high-elevation butterflies. > > Krushnamegh. > > From: Peter Smetacek > Reply-To: butterflyindia > Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 11:16:31 -0500 > To: butterflyindia > Subject: Re: [ButterflyIndia] 2 butterfly and 1moth cats and a butterfly > for id from Sikkim > > The first larva is a swallowtail but crtainly not machaon. > the next 2 larvae are hawkmoths, the green one with mauve stripes is > probably Acherontia lachesis (death's head hawkmoth) > The butterfly is Hypolimnas bolina. > > On Wed, 02 Mar 2011 20:47:13 +0530 wrote > > Dear All, please see attached and help id: > Swallowtail Cat?: *Krushnamegh's*: is your caterpillar from Lachung of > Yellow Swallowtail? > 1. Labin Rai's caterpillar: which butterfly? > 2. Labin Rai's caterpillar: which moth? > 3. Labin Rai's: which butterfly? > > Thanks in advance, > Usha > > > -- Usha Ganguli-Lachungpa Sr. Research Officer (WL) Dept. of Forest, Env. & WL Mgmt. Government of Sikkim Deorali, Gangtok 737102 Tel/Fax:91-3592-280402; Cell:094340-25273 [email protected] -- Enjoy
