*Battus philenor* larvae

[Chris J. Durden]

  From Central Texas south and west to at least Arizona there are
populations of *Battus philenor* that have dull vermilion larvae,
highlighted by dull orange spots. These are usually located in open
pasture, gravel flats, river terraces and not in woodland, where the normal
black larvae occur. I have looked at many adults from these areas without
finding any characters that separate them. There is certainly larval
polymorphism present and the unlikely possibility of a cryptic sibling
species should be investigated.
.........Chris Durden 
 
>> >I also saw a few impressive larvae, one which I know I've seen before but
>> >didn't have a field guide handy.  It was large (over 5 cm) and red with
long
>> >tentacle-like appendages.
>> 
>> Could it have been a _Battus_ larva? But I'd suppose you'd recognize one?
>
>Battus sp?  What species are you thinking of, Doug?  Aren't Battus
>philenor blue with segment-centered red dots down the middle of the
>back?  To tell you the cold truth, I don't know the other Battus species
>at all.
>
>Pierre A Plauzoles
>ae779 at lafn.org
>(using my wife's Internet access due to technical difficulties with my
>own)
>
>