Starr County Butterflies
10-24-09, ovipositing on Chenopodium
Egg, 10-25-09
Recently emerged caterpillar, 10-29-09
11-08-09, notice how well it is camouflaged among the buds
11-11-09, tended by an ant
11-11-09, a rare glimpse of the head
10-26-09, caterpillar on Amaranthus palmeri
10-29-09, mature caterpillar
11-01-09, prepupal
11-02-09, fresh chrysalis
11-04-09, almost ready to emerge
11-5-09, fresh Wetern Pygmy-Blue
This life history is a compilation from several different caterpillars, because raising a Pygmy-Blue turned out to be far more challenging than I anticipated. In the fall of 2009 the butterflies were abundant, and I found one ovipositing on what is probably Trianthema portulacastrum. I eagerly watched the numerous eggs I found, but apparently they were infertile, for I never saw any evidence of eclosion or caterpillars.
In late October, I observed the pictured female laying eggs on Pitseed Goosefoot, Chenopodium berlandieri. After a few days, I gathered one of these eggs. The caterpillar eclosed but only survived a couple of days. I found and collected a larger caterpillar on the same plant; in gathering food for it I found four more. However, three of these proved to be parasitized, all by different parasites!
In the meanwhile, I had also collected some then-unidentified Blue caterpillars from Pigweed, Amaranthus palmeri. These turned out to be Pygmy-Blues, and gave me the best photos of the chrysalis and fresh adult.