Stage Four, Pt. 2 - _TNY_4270
A fourth instar caterpillar of the common yellow swallowtail (Papilio machaon), also known as the old world swallowtail. For comparison, here is a photo of the preceeding third and the succeeding fifth (and final) instar stages: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53089000779/
A shot of the second instar caterpillar here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53093551085/
The "common" in the name of this one is a bit misleading as at least in Sweden, this isn't a common butterfly. I have only managed to see adult butterflies a couple of times and yet to get a proper photo of one.
They do like to lay their eggs on my mother-in-law's purple angelica (Angelica gigas) however, so I have seen the caterpillars on several occasion - and since they for obvious reasons don't run away, I have quite a lot of shots of those.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53090501387/
Stage Four, Pt. 2 - _TNY_4270
A fourth instar caterpillar of the common yellow swallowtail (Papilio machaon), also known as the old world swallowtail. For comparison, here is a photo of the preceeding third and the succeeding fifth (and final) instar stages: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53089000779/
A shot of the second instar caterpillar here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53093551085/
The "common" in the name of this one is a bit misleading as at least in Sweden, this isn't a common butterfly. I have only managed to see adult butterflies a couple of times and yet to get a proper photo of one.
They do like to lay their eggs on my mother-in-law's purple angelica (Angelica gigas) however, so I have seen the caterpillars on several occasion - and since they for obvious reasons don't run away, I have quite a lot of shots of those.
Part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53090501387/