Natural pupation sites of swallowtail butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilioninae): Papilio polyxenes Fabr., P.glaucus L. and Battus philenor (L.)

Abstract

Abstract. 1. Natural pupation sites have been found in Papilio polyxenes and P.glaucus by releasing prepupal larvae marked with UV‐fluorescent paint and locating them at night with a UV lamp, and in Battus philenor by searching a forest habitat where the larval foodplant is abundant.2. P.polyxenes, a species of weedy habitats, pupates off the ground on a variety of substrates including grasses, weed stalks, posts, etc. The pupae may be green or brown, resembling the substrate.3. P.glaucus, a species of forest habitats, pupates very close to the ground in the litter and has monomorphic brown pupae.4. B.philenor, also a forest species, pupates on exposed surfaces (chiefly tree‐trunks or cliffs) well off the ground. Its pupae may be brown or green, but the latter were found only on the slenderest twigs.5. The results for polyxenes and glaucus support the generalization of Clarke & Sheppard (1972) that species of stable habitats are likely to have monomorphic pupae, while those of habitats in which available sites may not be so similar from one generation to the next will be dimorphic.6. B.philenor is more problematical, but its tendency towards pupal monomorphism (brown) is logical in relation to its common pupation sites.