Tuesday 18 August 2015

Creature 322: Battus philenor





Battus philenor is sometimes called the pipevine caterpillar or swallowtail caterpillar.


The adult looks pretty cool, but take a look at the caterpillar.

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) caterpillar

As caterpillars they feed on the toxic plants Aristolochia and the poison accumulates in their body providing them with a chemical defence.


Distribution:
Battus philenor is known from North and Central America.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Battus
Species: Battus philenor

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