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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Pawpaws and butterflies

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  • From: nottke <nottke1@earthlink.net>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Pawpaws and butterflies
  • Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 21:16:43 -0400

Mark,
To get a population of Zebra Swallowtails established you would need at
least a few mated females, which would require at least a dozen
chrysalises. Since the males and females would emerge over several days,
to get mated females in your patch you would need to hatch them in an
enclosed space with some nectar plants and a small pawpaw. The eggs would
be deposited on the pawpaw and you could then move them or the early instar
caterpillars to other pawpaw trees.
ZST caterpillars tend to eat a leaf by starting at a margin 2/3 of the way
toward the tip. If you see such leaf damage, go out at night with a
flashlight to look for the caterpillar; they feed at night, usually
returning to the same leaf for several consecutive nights. Before daybreak
the caterpillar crawls down the tree to spend the day either on the ground
or under a lower unchewed leaf, occasionally on the trunk.
I have seen wild pawpaw trees in Delaware and southern New Jersey, but not
as many as we have in North Carolina.

Someone mentioned Luna Moths and pawpaw. The Luna caterpillar feeds on
walnut, pecan, hickory, persimmon, and sweetgum. I have not read of any
feeding studies, but I expect that Luna caterpillars cannot thrive on
pawpaw.

Even if you do not create a ZST colony in your pawpaw patch, they will
arrive on the winds of a storm sometime.
In the early 90s north of Madison, Wisconsin, a former southerner planted
some Dutchman's Pipe as an ornamental vine on a trellis. In 2001 Pipevine
Swallowtail caterpillars appeared and a colony was created that thrived
through 2002. It will be interesting to hear whether the colony, and the
pipevine, survived the current winter.

> This is off topic but I ask your indulgence. I'm interested in
>bringing zebra swallowtail butterflies to my pawpaw patch. Pawpaws are
>(almost) the sole source of food for the caterpillar of this butterfly,
>and since pawpaws are not native to Rhode Island there are no such
>butterflies here. I have sixty-odd pawpaw trees, which should be enough
>to support a population. I'm looking for advice, suggestions, and a way
>to get hold of some cocoons of this butterfly. Mark Garrison, RI zone 6


Jim Nottke
Pfafftown, NC 27040
Hardiness Zone 7A





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