Western Giant Swallowtail

Papilio rumiko

''Papilio rumiko'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly. It is found from the south-western United States, through Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica to Panama. The northernmost record is north-eastern Colorado.
Papilio rumiko or Giant swallowtail feeding on a Baldwin species :) At 3 1/2– 5 1/2 inches it is considered one of the largest butterflies in North America. The newest idea is this species used to called cresphontes but is now called rumiko. 

The theory is that the tails on the trailing edge of the large wings along with the colorful eye dots allow these butterflies to fool predators into thinking that the rear of the insect  looks like the head with the tail resembling antennas and the brightly colored spots resemble eyes. It’s also noted that the lines or bands lead the predators’ eyes towards its rear. The predator will attack the tail allowing the butterfly to escape relatively left intact.
The first larval stage looks like a bird dropping to avoid predation. During droughts in Arizona, pupae can stay in this stage for a year or more waiting for a better climate.
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/126223/papilio_resphontes_or_swallowtail_caterpillar.html

Of the 24 species of swallowtail that occur in the United States, 13 have been found in Arizona.


https://www.jungledragon.com/image/134791/papilio_cresphontes_or_giant_swallowtail_wing_scales.html
https://www.jungledragon.com/image/134759/papilio_rumiko_or_giant_swallowtail.html Geotagged,Papilio rumiko,Spring,United States,Western Giant Swallowtail

Appearance

The length of the forewings is 50-58 mm. There are two maize-yellow bands on the forewings: a central band of nine spots from the apex to the basal third at the inner margin and a sub-marginal band of three to seven spots. There are several smaller maize-yellow spots near the costa at the end of the discal cell. There is a background-colored dark oval spot of variable size inside or at the anterior edge of the yellow central band spot, sometimes dividing the yellow spot into two. The marginal pale spots at the dips between the veins are small or almost absent. The hindwings have two maize-yellow bands extending from the forewings. There is a maroon-red to orange-red eyespot near the tornus with a blue crescent above. The center of the tail tip is yellow.
Western Giant swallowtail: Heraclides rumiko Yes, the Western Giant Swallowtail caterpillars (Papilionidae genus) species Heraclides rumiko; used to be identified as H. cresphontes, but those are found on the East coast. In 2014, their DNA revealed they are related but separate species. It must’ve been their parents I ran into on my balcony some days ago. They didn’t seem to notice me as they flew together perfectly like in a dance of lovers. By the time i got my camera, they were gone. But good news! Today i discovered 4 young miracles on the leaves of my rue. They are known to prefer and damage citrus trees. I will check my lemon tomorrow. As the caterpillars get closer to pupae their camouflage makes them look like a bird turd on a twig. And that’s exactly what i thought the older one was! Then i saw the little feet! Then I found three younger siblings.https://zookeys.pensoft.net/showimg.php?filename=oo_36235.jpg Butterfly,California,Caterpillar,Fall,Geotagged,Heraclides rumiko,Papilio rumiko,United States,Western Giant Swallowtail

Naming

The species is named in honour of the wife of the first author.
Heraclides_rumiko - a new one in the garden here is an article about this one
http://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=4409 Costa Rica,Geotagged,Heraclides rumiko,Papilio rumiko,Spring,butterfly,mariposa,papilio,papillon,papilonidae

Food

Eggs are laid singly on young leaves and shoots of ''Zanthoxylum fagara'', ''Ptelea trifoliata'', ''Amyris texana'' and ''Casimiroa greggii'', ''Ruta graveolens'' and ''Citrus'' species. The colour of the egg is pale yellow
when laid, gradually changing to dull orange-brown. First instar larvae are 3–5 mm in length with a yellow-brown head capsule. The body pattern resembles bird-droppings. The second instar is 5–11 mm with a uniformly brownish head. Third instars are 11–16 mm, fourth 16–30 mm and fifth instar 30–50 mm. When a late instar larva is startled, it lifts its head and inflates the thorax, revealing the eyespots on the meta-thorax. If disturbed further, it everts red osmeterium from behind the head. Early instar larva tends to use osmeterium right away when disturbed, and osmeterium of the first instar is yellowish.

Pupation takes place in a pupa of 26–36 mm in length. It is mottled pale to greyish and dark brown, resembling the surface of a tree or branch it is attached to. The darkness of a pupa is frequently determined by the color of the surface it rests on.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyPapilionidae
GenusPapilio
SpeciesP. rumiko