Beautiful Bird Droppings

Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Hodges#9301 (Eudryas grata)

These caterpillar and moths are prized finds for moth-ers. I have only found one.  😧  They are gorgeous but the prize is that they are one of the creatures that look like bird droppings. You can't tell that from the caterpillar stage; perhaps you can't even tell from the adult moth. But when you see the moth live and in person, they look like bird droppings and you are tempted to move on and search for other insects. 

Dorsal view of a Beautiful Wood-Nymph adult on house.

Side view

There are only three species in the genus Eudryas. They all pretty much look the same except for the pattern and shape of the edge of the wings. 

The problem with Eudryas (not for me, but for Jody, when she found that caterpillar at her garden) is that they can skeletonize your grape vines. You can see that in the photo below. Jody lets the grapes go in order to let the moths live and because she is not going to use chemicals in her garden. Bugguide says that "[l]arvae feed on leaves of several shrubs, vines: Ampelopsis (a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae), Buttonbush, grape, hops, Virginia Creeper. Adults do not feed?"  I am very surprised that nobody knows if the adults feed or not. 

Our caterpillar devouring Jody's grape vines.

Beautiful wood-nymphs are only one of bird dropping camouflage animals. Another, also difficult to find, is:

Small Bird Dropping Moth - Hodges#9095 (Ponometia erastrioides)

Whenever I see something that looks like bird droppings, I never assume it's a bird dropping. I gently poke with a soft blade of grass to see if it is alive. I'm glad I did that when I found another bird dropping on the bark of a gray birch tree one day and found  . . . 

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis) larva, 1st instar 

That caterpillar goes through 4 or 5 more instars until it pupates and metamorphoses into . . . 

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Be careful out there with bird droppings!

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A Canadian Tiger Swallowtail. I Think.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis)

The Eastern and Canadian Tiger Swallowtails are nearly identical except for bars and markings on the ventral side of the wings. You usually never see the bottom of the wing unless the butterfly is puddling: taking nutrients from wet soil. And that is what this one was doing.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtails puddling.

Puddling is usually done by male tiger swallowtails, but I have seen reference to females doing it occasionally. Apparently the males "gain virility" with the nutrients and salts obtained in the soil. Very often, there are beautiful groups of butterflies puddling. Yesterday there was just this one. I have only seen two this year because the two hard killer frosts in late May killed the lilac blossoms. When the lilacs bloom they are covered in the tiger swallowtails.

I do not have a verified photo of an Eastern Tiger. Usually they are labeled "tiger swallowtails and allies." But yesterday's tiger showed me under its wings. You will see a nearly solid black straight band on the edge of the wing. Eastern tigers have broken bands. My tentative identification is not yet confirmed, but I am feeling confident.

Ventral side of wing

The Canadian tigers are smaller than the Eastern tigers. They also appear before the Easterns. The species will also hybridize, creating new variations in their patterns. Identification can get complicated, if not impossible at times. 

More information:

• Canadian Tiger Swallowtails Puddling (Mary Holland)

• Taming the Tigers: An Identification Guide to Canadian and Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and their Intergrades (Bryan Pfeiffer)

• Observations on the Puddling Behavior of the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio Glaucus Canadensis in Northern Michigan (J. Mark Scriber)

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