Hi Everybody!!

Hi Everybody!!
Welcome to my Hometown!!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

THE DOGWOOD DAYS OF SPRING! (TIME TO PLANT PHOTO BLOG)


Hi Everybody!!
The Dogwood Trees are blooming which is a signal to plant seeds and little plants. Most people around here do not plant crops until the bloom of the dogwoods is finished. Sometimes there is a 'Dogwood Winter' where a late cold front freezes the blooms of the dogwoods. Not this year, we are in the clear in S. Texas. We did have a late spring cold snap, but it caught the redbuds and tulip magnolias a couple of weeks ago.Tonight, I have shared info from Wikipedia on the Dogwood Trees. If you have a shady spot in your yard, I suggest this tree for you. You will fall in love! Enjoy!

















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_(genus)

Cornus (genus)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species[Note 1] of woody plants in the familyCornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China and Japan and the southeastern United States particularly rich in native species.
Species include the common dogwood Cornus sanguinea of Eurasia, the widely cultivated flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) of eastern North America, the Pacific dogwood Cornus nuttallii of western North America, the Kousa dogwood Cornus kousa of eastern Asia, and two low-growing boreal species, the Canadian and Eurasian dwarf cornels (or bunchberries), Cornus canadensis and Cornus suecica respectively.
Depending on botanical interpretation, the dogwoods are variously divided into one to ninegenera or subgenera; a broadly inclusive genus Cornus is accepted here, with four subgenera.
Cornus
Cornus kousa var. chinensis
Scientific classificatione
Kingdom:Plantae
Clade:Angiosperms
Clade:Eudicots
Clade:Asterids
Order:Cornales
Family:Cornaceae
Genus:Cornus
L.
Type species
Cornus mas
L.


Common name "dogwood"[edit]

The name "dog-tree" entered the English vocabulary by 1548, and had been further transformed to "dogwood" by 1614. Once the name dogwood was affixed to this kind of tree, it soon acquired a secondary name as the Hound's Tree, while the fruits came to be known as dogberries or houndberries (the latter a name also for the berries ofblack nightshade, alluding to Hecate's hounds). Another theory advances the view that "dogwood" was derived from the Old English dagwood, from the use of the slender stems of its very hard wood for making "dags" (daggers, skewers, and arrows).[2][3]Another, earlier name of the dogwood in English is the whipple-tree. Geoffrey Chauceruses "whippletree" in The Canterbury Tales ("The Knight's Tale", verse 2065) to refer to the dogwood. A whippletree is an element of the traction of a horse-drawn cart, linking the drawpole of the cart to the harnesses of the horses in file; these items still bear the name of the tree from which they are commonly carved.

Characteristics[edit]

Dogwoods have simple, untoothed leaves with the veins curving distinctively as they approach the leaf margins. Most dogwood species have opposite leaves, while a few, such as Cornus alternifolia and C. controversa, have their leaves alternate. Dogwoodflowers have four parts. In many species, the flowers are borne separately in open (but often dense) clusters, while in various other species (such as the flowering dogwood), the flowers themselves are tightly clustered, lacking showy petals, but surrounded by four to six large, typically white petal-like bracts.
The fruits of all dogwood species are drupes with one or two seeds, often brightly colorful. The drupes of several species in the subgenera Cornus and Benthamidia are edible. Many are without much flavor. Cornus kousa and Cornus mas are sold commercially as edible fruit trees. The fruits of Cornus kousa have a sweet, tropical pudding like flavor in addition to hard pits. The fruits of Cornus mas are both tart and sweet when completely ripe. They have been eaten in Eastern Europe for centuries, both as food and medicine to fight colds and flus. They are very high in vitamin C. However, those of species in subgenus Swida are mildly toxic to people, though readily eaten bybirds.
Dogwoods are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of butterflies and moths, including the Emperor moththe Engrailed, the small angle shades, and the following case-bearers of the genus ColeophoraC. ahenellaC. salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), C. albiantennaellaC. cornella and C. cornivorella, with the latter three all feeding exclusively on Cornus.
File:IMG 1527Dogwood.JPG

File:IMG 1527Dogwood.JPG

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cornus florida in spring


Characteristics[edit]

Dogwoods have simple, untoothed leaves with the veins curving distinctively as they approach the leaf margins. Most dogwood species have opposite leaves, while a few, such as Cornus alternifolia and C. controversa, have their leaves alternate. Dogwoodflowers have four parts. In many species, the flowers are borne separately in open (but often dense) clusters, while in various other species (such as the flowering dogwood), the flowers themselves are tightly clustered, lacking showy petals, but surrounded by four to six large, typically white petal-like bracts.
The fruits of all dogwood species are drupes with one or two seeds, often brightly colorful. The drupes of several species in the subgenera Cornus and Benthamidia are edible. Many are without much flavor. Cornus kousa and Cornus mas are sold commercially as edible fruit trees. The fruits of Cornus kousa have a sweet, tropical pudding like flavor in addition to hard pits. The fruits of Cornus mas are both tart and sweet when completely ripe. They have been eaten in Eastern Europe for centuries, both as food and medicine to fight colds and flus. They are very high in vitamin C. However, those of species in subgenus Swida are mildly toxic to people, though readily eaten bybirds.
Dogwoods are used as food plants by the larvae of some species of butterflies and moths, including the Emperor moththe Engrailed, the small angle shades, and the following case-bearers of the genus ColeophoraC. ahenellaC. salicivorella (recorded on Cornus canadensis), C. albiantennaellaC. cornella and C. cornivorella, with the latter three all feeding exclusively on Cornus.

Uses[edit]

Dogwoods are widely planted horticulturally, and the dense wood of the larger-stemmed species is valued for certain specialized purposes. Cutting Boards and other fine turnings can be made from this fine grained and beautiful wood. The red seeds are used by over 32 different varieties of game birds to feed upon, including quail.[4]

Horticulture[edit]

Various species of Cornus, particularly the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), are ubiquitous in American gardens and landscapinghorticulturist Donald Wyman stated "There is a dogwood for almost every part of the U.S. except the hottest and driest areas".[5] However, in England, the lack of sharp winters and hot summers makesCornus florida very shy of flowering.[6]
Many species in subgenus Swida are stoloniferous shrubs that grow naturally in wet habitats and along waterways. Several of these are used along highways and in naturalizing landscape plantings, especially those species with bright red or bright yellow stems, particularly conspicuous in winter, such as Cornus stolonifera.
Most of the species in subgenus Benthamidia, including the flowering dogwood, are small trees useful as ornamental plants. When flowering, they are of rare elegance and beauty, comparable to Carolina silverbellCanadian serviceberry, and the Eastern redbudfor their ornamental qualities.

Fruits[edit]

Cornus mas is commonly cultivated in Southeastern Europe for its edible berries, which can be eaten raw after slight bletting, turned into jams, and fermented into a wine.

Wood[edit]

Dense and fine-grained, dogwood timber has a density of 0.79 and is highly prized for making loom shuttles, tool handles, roller skates and other small items that require a very hard and strong wood.[7] Though it is tough for woodworking, some artisans favor dogwood for small projects such as walking caneslongbowsmountain dulcimers and fine inlays. Dogwood wood is an excellent substitute for persimmon wood in the heads of certain golf clubs ("woods"). Dogwood lumber is rare in the fact that it is not readily available with any manufacturer and must be cut down by the person(s) wanting to use it.
Larger items have also been occasionally made of dogwood, such as the screw-in basket-style wine or fruit presses. The first kinds of laminated tennis rackets were also made from this wood, cut into thin strips.
Dogwood twigs were used by pioneers to brush their teeth. They would peel off the bark, bite the twig and then scrub their teeth.[8]

Medicinal[edit]

Cornus florida has been proven to prevent the spread of malaria.[9] Their bark is rich in tannin and has been used as a substitute for quinine.[10]During the civil war confederate soldiers would make a tea from the bark to treat pain and fevers, and dogwood leaves in a poultice to cover wounds.[11]

Cultural references[edit]

The inflorescence ("flower") of the Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) is the official flower of the province of British Columbia. Theflowering dogwood (Cornus florida) and its inflorescence are the state tree and the state flower respectively for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. It is also the state tree of Missouri and the state flower of North Carolina.
The poet Virgil makes reference to a haunted copse of cornel and myrtle in Book III of the Aeneid. The hero Aeneas attempts to break off boughs to decorate an altar, but instead the wood drips with black blood.[18] Anne Morrow Lindbergh gives a vivid description of the Dogwood tree in her poem Dogwood.[19]
Christian legend of unknown origin proclaims that the cross used to crucify Jesus was constructed of dogwood.[20] As the story goes, during the time of Jesus, the dogwood was larger and stronger than it is today and was the largest tree in the area ofJerusalem. After His Crucifixion, Jesus changed the plant to its current form: He shortened it and twisted its branches to assure an end to its use for the construction of crosses. He also transformed its inflorescence into a representation of the Crucifixion itself, with the four white bracts cross-shaped, which represent the four corners of the Cross, each bearing a rusty indentation as of a nail and the red stamens of the flower, represents Jesus' Crown of Thorns, and the clustered red fruit represent His Blood.[21]
In the Victorian Era, flowers or sprigs of dogwoods were presented to unmarried women by male suitors to signify affection. The returning of the flower conveyed indifference on the part of the woman; however, if she kept it, it became a sign of mutual interest.[citation needed]
The term "dogwood winter", in colloquial use in the American Southeast, is sometimes used to describe a cold snap in spring, presumably because farmers believed it was not safe to plant their crops until after the dogwoods blossomed.[22]
























link to photostudy in G+ Albums:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5993438514624360497








...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek.  See You next time!

O+O

Thursday, March 20, 2014

VERNAL EQUINOX TODAY! (HAPPY SPRING PHOTO BLOG)


Hi Everybody!!
Spring officially arrived today right on time. In real time it is March 20, which is the vernal equinox. Below I have shared info from Wikipedia about the Equinox. You can also hit Google Search Button to discover more in this category. (The Google Search is also decorated in a cute growing Spring Doodle!) Your photostudy is of the new blooms around the grounds. Last night, the frogs began singing on the creek. It is amazing every year how new life springs forth everywhere with no "Permission" from Man! 
Enjoy!


























http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

Equinox

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An equinox occurs twice a year, around 20 March and 22 September. The word itself has several related definitions. The oldest meaning is the day whendaytime and night are of approximately equal duration.[2] The word equinoxcomes from this definition, derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). The equinox is not exactly the same as the day when period of daytime and night are of equal length for two reasons. Firstly, sunrise, which begins daytime, occurs when the top of the Sun's disk rises above the eastern horizon. At thatinstant, the disk's center is still below the horizon. Secondly, Earth's atmosphere refracts sunlight. As a result, an observer sees daylight before the first glimpse of the Sun's disk above the horizon. To avoid this ambiguity, the word equilux is sometimes used to mean a day on which the periods of daylight and night are equal.[3][note 1] Times of sunset and sunrise vary with an observer's location (longitude and latitude), so the dates when day and night are of exactly equal length likewise depend on location.
The other definitions are based on several related simultaneous astronomicalevents, and refer either to the events themselves or to the days on which they occur. These events are the reason that the period of daytime and night are approximately equal on the day of a solstice.
An equinox occurs when when the plane of Earth's Equator passes the center of the Sun. At that instant, the tilt of Earth's axisneither inclines away from nor towards the Sun. The two annual equinoxes are the only times when the subsolar point—the place on Earth's surface where the center of the Sun is exactly overhead—is on the Equator, and, conversely, the Sun is at zenith over the Equator. The subsolar point crosses the equator, moving northward at the March equinox and southward at the September equinox.
At an equinox, the Sun is at one of the two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator(i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points: classically, the vernal point (RA = 00h 00m 00s and longitude = 0º) and the autumnal point (RA = 12h 00m 00s and longitude = 180º).
The equinoxes are the only times when the solar terminator is perpendicular to the Equator. As a result, the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are illuminated equally.
File:Earth-lighting-equinox EN.png

File:Earth-lighting-equinox EN.png

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
During an equinox, the Earth's North and South poles are not tilted toward or away from the Sun, and the duration of daylight is theoretically the same at all points on Earth's surface.

Date

When Julius Caesar established his calendar in 45 BC he set 25 March as the spring equinox. Because a Julian year (365.25 days) is slightly longer than an actual year the calendar drifted with respect to the equinox, such that the equinox was occurring on about 21 March in AD 300 and by AD 1500 it had reached 11 March.
This drift induced Pope Gregory XIII to create a modern Gregorian calendar. The Pope wanted to restore the edicts concerning thedate of Easter of the Council of Nicaea of AD 325. (Incidentally, the date of Easter itself is fixed by an approximation of lunar cycles used in the Hebraic calendar, but according to the historian Bede the English name "Easter" comes from a pagan celebration by the Germanic tribes of the vernal (spring) equinox.) So the shift in the date of the equinox that occurred between the 4th and the 16th centuries was annulled with the Gregorian calendar, but nothing was done for the first four centuries of the Julian calendar. The days of 29 February of the years AD 100, AD 200, AD 300, and the day created by the irregular application of leap years between the assassination of Caesar and the decree of Augustus re-arranging the calendar in AD 8, remained in effect. This moved the equinox four days earlier than in Caesar's time.

Names

  • Vernal equinox and autumnal equinox: these classical names are direct derivatives of Latin (ver = spring and autumnus =autumn). These names are based on the seasons, and can be ambiguous since seasons of the northern hemisphere andsouthern hemisphere are opposites, and the vernal equinox of one hemisphere is the autumnal equinox of the other.
  • Spring equinox and fall equinox or autumn equinox: these are more colloquial names based on the seasons, and are also therefore ambiguous across hemispheres.
  • March equinox and September equinox: names referring to the times of the year when such equinoxes occur. These are without the ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, but are still not universal as not all people use a solar-based calendar where the equinoxes occur every year in the same month (as they do not in the Islamic calendar and Hebrew calendar, for example), and the names are not useful for other planets (Mars, for example), even though these planets do have seasons.
  • Northward equinox and southward equinox: names referring to the apparent motion of the Sun at the times of the equinox. The least culturally biased terms.
  • Vernal point and autumnal point are the points on the celestial sphere where the Sun is located on the vernal equinox andautumnal equinox respectively. Usually this terminology is fixed for the Northern hemisphere.
  • First point (or cusp) of Aries and first point of Libra are names formerly used by astronomers and now used by navigators and astrologersNavigational ephemeris tables record the geographic position of the First Point of Aries as the reference for position of navigational stars. Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the astrological signs of the tropical zodiac where these equinoxes are located no longer correspond with the actual constellations once ascribed to them. The equinoxes are currently in the constellations of Pisces and Virgo. In sidereal astrology (notably Hindu astrology), by contrast, the first point of Aries remains aligned with Ras Hammel "the head of the ram", i.e. the Aries constellation.

Length of equinoctial day and night

Contour plot of the hours of daylight as a function of latitude and day of the year, showing approximately 12 hours of daylight at all latitudes during the equinoxes
On the day of the equinox, the center of the Sun spends a roughly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on the Earth, so night and day are about the same length. The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). In reality, the day is longer than the night at an equinox. Day is usually defined as the period when sunlight reaches the ground in the absence of local obstacles. From the Earth, the Sun appears as a disc rather than a point of light, so when the center of the Sun is below the horizon, its upper edge is visible. Furthermore, the atmosphere refracts light, so even when the upper limb of the Sun is 0.4 degrees below the horizon, its rays curve over the horizon to the ground. In sunrise/sunset tables, the assumed semidiameter (apparentradius) of the Sun is 16 minutes of arc and the atmospheric refraction is assumed to be 34 minutes of arc. Their combination means that when the upper limb of Sun is on the visible horizon, its center is 50 minutes of arc below the geometric horizon, which is the intersection with the celestial sphere of a horizontal plane through the eye of the observer. These effects make the day about 14 minutes longer than the night at the Equator and longer still towards the Poles. The real equality of day and night only happens in places far enough from the Equator to have a seasonal difference in day length of at least 7 minutes, actually occurring a few days towards the winter side of each equinox.


























https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117645114459863049265/albums/5992863167362855969


...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek.  See You next time!!

O+O

Monday, March 17, 2014

SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY ON RED BARON PEACH TREE! (A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS PHOTO BLOG)


Hi Everybody!!
Good News to report:  All over South Texas, it is a Banner Year for fruit trees! Everyone who grows fruit trees are as excited as I am to see the trees bursting with beautiful blossoms. A big thank you to the "weathermen" for bringing the cold chill down south. You see fruit trees in the south need a certain number of "chill hours" to set fruit. Personally, I have never seen such full fruit trees ever as winters are not typically as cold as this past season. Below is info from Wikipedia to explain the "chill hour requirement". Also, sharing a Black Beauty surprise: The first Swallowtail Butterfly of 2014. For those of You now considering planting fruit trees, you must check for what is best for your area. If you can grow a Red Baron Peach tree, I highly recommend it. Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_requirement

Chilling requirement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The chilling requirement of a fruit is the minimum period of cold weather after which a fruit-bearing tree will blossom. It is often expressed in chill hours, which can be calculated in different ways, all of which essentially involve adding up the total amount of time in a winter spent at certain temperatures.[1][2]
Some bulbs have chilling requirements to bloom, and some seeds have chilling requirements to sprout.
Biologically, the chilling requirement is a way of ensuring that vernalization occurs.

Chilling units or chilling hours[edit]

Chilling unit in agriculture is a metric of a plant's exposure to chilling temperatures. Chilling temperatures extend from freezing point to, depending on the model, 45 °F (7 °C) or even 60 °F (16 °C).[3] Stone fruit trees and certain other plants of temperate climate develop next year's buds in the summer. In the autumn the buds go dormant, and the switch to proper, healthy dormancy is triggered by a certain minimum exposure to chilling temperatures. Lack of such exposure results in delayed and substandard foliation, flowering and fruiting. One chilling unit, in the simplest models, is equal to one hour's exposure to the chilling temperature; these units are summed up for a whole season. Advanced models assign different weights to different temperature bands.

Chilling requirements[edit]

According to Fishman, chilling in trees acts in two stages. The first is reversible: chilling helps to build up the precursor to dormancy, but the process can be easily reversed with a rise in temperature. After the level of precursor reaches a certain threshold, dormancy becomes irreversible and will not be affected by short-term warm temperature peaks.[4] Apples have the highest chilling requirements of all fruit trees, followed by apricots and, lastly, peaches. Apple cultivars have a diverse range of permissible minimum chilling: most have been bred for temperate weather, but Gala and Fuji can be successfully grown in subtropicBakersfield, California.[5]
Peach cultivars in Texas range in their requirements from 100 chilling units (FlordaGrande cultivar, zoned for low chill regions) to 1,000 units (Surecrop, zoned for high chill regions).[6] Planting a low-chilling cultivar in a high-chill region risks loss of a year's harvest when an early bloom is hit by a spring frost.[6] A high-chilling cultivar planted in a low-chill region will, quite likely, never fruit at all. A four-year study of Ruston Red Alabama peach, which has a threshold of 850 chilling units, demonstrated that a seasonal chilling deficiency of less than 50 units has no effect on harvest. Deficiency of 50 to 100 units may result in loss of up to 50% of expected harvest. Deficiency of 250 hours and more is a sure loss of practically whole harvest; the few fruit will be of very poor quality and have no market value.[7] Rest-breaking agents (e.g. hydrogen cyanamide, trade name BudPro or Dormex), applied in spring, can partially mitigate the effects of insufficient chilling. BudPro can substitute for up to 300 hours of chilling, but an excessive spraying and timing error can easily damage the buds.[7] Other products such as Dormex use stabilizing compounds.
Chilling of orange trees has two effects. First, it increases production of carotenoids and decreases chlorophyll content of the fruit, improving their appearance and, ultimately, their market value. Second, the "quasi-dormancy" experienced by orange trees triggers concentrated flowering in spring, as opposed to more or less uniform round-the-year flowering and fruiting in warmer climates.[5]
Biennial plants like cabbagesugar beetcelery and carrots need chilling to develop second-year flowering buds. Excessive chilling in the early stages of a sugar beet seedling, on the contrary, may trigger undesired growth of a flowering stem (bolting) in its first year. This phenomenon has been offset by breeding sugar beet cultivars with a higher minimum chilling threshold. Such cultivars can be seeded earlier than normal without the risk of bolting.[5]

Models[edit]

All models require hourly recording of temperatures.[4] The simplest model assigns one chilling unit for every full hour at temperatures below 45 °F (7 °C). A slightly more sophisticated model excludes freezing temperatures, which do not contribute to proper dormancy cycle, and counts only hours with temperatures between 32 °F (0 °C) and 45 °F (7 °C).[3]
The Utah model assigns different weight to different temperature bands; a full unit per hour is assigned only to temperatures between 37 °F (3 °C) and 48 °F (9 °C). Maximum effect is achieved at 7 °C (45 °F).[4] Temperatures between 55 °F (13 °C) and 60 °F (16 °C) (the threshold between chilling and warm weather) have zero weight, and higher temperature have negative weights: they reduce the beneficial effects of an already accumulated chilling hours.[3]
Southwick et al. wrote that neither of these models is accurate enough to account for application of rest-breaking agents widely used in modern farming. They advocated the use of a dynamic model tailored to the two-stage explanation of dormancy.[4]






From the Google Search Index:


  • Red Baron Peach Tree Care | TastyLandscapeTastyLandscape

    tastylandscape.com/2013/04/24/red-baron-peach/

    Apr 24, 2013 - The Red Baron Peach tree produces super tasty peaches and amazing... For more information about thinning peach fruit, check out my short ...
  • Red Baron Peach | Dave Wilson Nursery

    www.davewilson.com/...information/.../red-baron-...

    Dave Wilson Nursery
    250-300 hours below 45°F; USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7 - 10; Pollination. Self-fruitful. Bloom Season within fruit type(see note). early midseason. Harvest ...





















  • The Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly 
    (1st of 2014)






    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swallowtail_butterfly

    Swallowtail butterfly

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species.[1] Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of the genus Ornithoptera.[2]
    Swallowtails have a number of distinctive features; for example, the Papilionid caterpillarbears a repugnatorial organ called the osmeterium on its prothorax. The osmeterium normally remains hidden, but when threatened, the larva turns it outward through a transverse dorsal groove[3] by inflating it with blood.
    The forked appearance of the swallowtails' hind wings, which can be seen when the butterfly is resting with its wings spread, gave rise to the common name swallowtail. As for its formal name, Linnaeus chose Papilio for the type genus, as Papilio is Latin for 'butterfly'. For the specific epithets of the genus, Linnaeus applied the names of Greek heroes to the swallowtails. The type speciesPapilio machaon honoured Machaon, one of the sons of Asclepius, mentioned in the Iliad.[4]
    Swallowtail Butterfly
    Some species of the Papilionidae
    Scientific classification
    Kingdom:Animalia
    Phylum:Arthropoda
    Class:Insecta
    Order:Lepidoptera
    Suborder:Ditrysia
    Superfamily:Papilionoidea
    Family:Papilionidae
    Latreille, [1802]
    Type species
    Papilio machaon
    (Old World Swallowtail)
    Subfamilies and genera
    There are 31 genera and about 600 species:

    Distribution[edit]

    As of 2005, 552 extant species have been identified,[1] which are distributed across the tropical and temperate regions of all continents except Antarctica. Various species inhabit altitudes ranging from sea level to high mountains, as in the case of most species of Parnassius. The majority of swallowtail species and the greatest diversity in form and lifestyle are found in the tropics and subtropical regions between 20°N and 20°S,[5]:particularly Southeast Asia, and between 20°N and 40°N in East Asia. Only 12 species are found in Europe[6] and only one species, Papilio machaon is found in the British Isles.[6] North America has 40 species, including several tropical species andParnassius.[7]
    The northernmost swallowtail is the Arctic Apollo (Parnassius arcticus), found in the Arctic Circle in northeastern Yakutia, at altitudes of 1500 meters above sea level.[8] In theHimalayas, various Apollo species such as Parnassius epaphus, have been found at altitudes of 6,000 meters above sea level.[9]:221

    Appearance/Morphology[edit]

    The detailed descriptions of morphological characteristics of the Papilionidae, as quoted in Bingham (1905) are as follows:[10]:1,2
    Egg. "Dome-shaped, smooth or obscurely facetted, not as high as wide, somewhat leathery, opaque." (Doherty.)
    Larva. Stout, smooth or with a series of fleshy tubercles on the dorsum : sometimes with a raised fleshy protuberance (the so-called hood or crest) on the fourth segment. The second segment has a transverse opening, out of which the larva protrudes at will and an erect, forked, glandular fleshy organ that emits a strong, penetrating, and somewhat pleasant odor.
    Pupa. Variable in form but most often curved backwards. It is angulate, with the head truncate or rounded and the back of abdomen is smooth or tuberculate. It is attached by the tail, normally in a perpendicular position, and further secured by a silken girth round the middle. In Parnassius, the pupa is placed in a loose silken web between leaves.
    Imago. Wings extraordinarily variable in shape. Hind wing very frequently has a tail, which may be slender, or broad and spatulate, but is always an extension of the termen at vein 4. In one genus, Armandia, the termen of the hind wing is prolonged into tails at the apices of veins 2 and 3 as well as at vein 4. Pore wing (except in the aberrant genera Parnassius and Hypermnestra) with all 12 veins present and in addition a short internal vein, vein 1 a,[11] that invariably terminates on the dorsal margin.
    Stages of development of a papilionid – Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

    Papilioninae[edit]

    The tribes recognised in the Papilioninae are LeptocirciniTeinopalpiniTroidini, and Papilionini.
    Subfamily : Papilioninae.


    Mating and Young[edit]

    After mating, the male Parnassines produce a glue like substance that is used to seal the female genital opening and prevent other males from mating.[23] They lay individual eggs on the underside of the leaves of their food plants.[24] There is no parental investment once the eggs have been laid.
    The pupae are typically attached to the substrate by the cremaster but with head up held by a silk girdle. The Apollos, however, pupate in debris on the ground and also build a loose cocoon. In the temperate regions, the winters are passed in a pupal diapausestage.

    Food[edit]


    Scarce Swallowtail butterfly, Iphiclides podalirius on lavender flowers, near Adriatic coast.
    The caterpillars of various swallowtail butterfly species feed on a wide range of different plants, most depending on only one of five families: AristolochiaceaeAnnonaceae,Lauraceae, Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) and Rutaceae. By eating some of these toxic plants, the caterpillars sequester aristolochic acid which renders both the caterpillars and the butterflies of some of these as toxic, thus protecting them from predators.[25]Swallowtail tribes Zerynthiini (Parnassiinae), Luehdorfiini (Parnassiinae) and Troidini (Papilioninae) almost exclusively use the Aristolochiaceae family as their host plants.
    For example, the Eastern Black Swallowtail's main main host plant in the wild is Queen Anne's Lace, but they also eat garden plants in the carrot family, including carrots, parsley, dill, and fennel.[13]
    Adult swallowtails sip nectar, but also mud and sometimes manure.[24]
    ...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek.  See
     You next time!
    O+O