A CALIFORNIA ORANGE DOG 



BY KARL R. COOLIDGE. 



Quite a few species of the lepidopterous genus Papilio ( generally known 

 as swallow-tailed butterflies) are known to feed on, in their larval state, 

 and be destructive to citrus trees. P. demoletis has at times played havoc 

 in the orange groves of Africa, and in India P. crithoiiiiis sometimes does 

 serious damage to the young budded trees. Another large and showy species, 

 F. erectbeus. common in the warmer parts of Australia and Queensland, 

 is an enemy to the orange growers of those regions. In the L'nited States, 

 P. crcsphontcs Cramer is notorious as an orange pest in the plantations of 

 Florida, where it is known as the "Orange Dog." P. palamcdcs Drury is also 

 a citrus feeder, but is not abundant enough to do damage to any extent. 



Other American Papilios are of some economic importance. P. tiinius. 

 the common swallow tail of the East, which has a heterogeneous assortment 

 of food-plants, such as wild cherry (Ccrasits) , willow iSalix). camphor tree 

 (Camphora officinale), etc., occasionally damages various forest trees. Our 

 two west coast "tigers," P. rutulus Boisd., and P. curymcdon Boisd., are 

 rather restricted as to food-plants. The former feeds on Pninus, Salix, Alnns 

 and Magnolia, while the only food-plant of the latter known to me is the 

 California Coffee berry, {Rhaninns calif ornica) . I', pliilcnor. which occurs 

 all over the United States but only sparsely in California, is one of the bug- 

 bears of house-wives, who have the Dutchmans-pipe vine (AristoJochia) 

 ornamenting their porches. P. astcrins, of the Atlantic States, is responsible 

 for considerable damage done to garden trucks, such as celery, ])arsnips and 

 parsle)', which Ijelong to the Uinbcllifcrac, upon which the members of the 

 astcrins group are almost wholly confined. It is rather surprising then to 

 find in California P. cclicayn Lucas, a near ally of asterius, having for its 

 food-plant citrus trees. 



In May. 1909, 1 found Papilio .■:clicayn extremely abimdant about Porter- 

 \illc and Lindsay, in the San Joaquin valley, and observing by chance a female 

 (.vipositing on the lower siu"face of an orange leaf. 1 was astonished to find on 

 practically every young tree either eggs or larva?. 



Zclicaxn is a widely distributed butterfly along the west coast, flying 

 from Mexico to .\laska, and eastward to Montana and Colorado. Its normal 

 food-plants are various species of Uinbcllifcrac. About San Francisco the 

 most favored ones are Focniculnui ^i'nlgaris and Caruni kclloggii. In that 

 region it appears to be two-brooded, but there is certainly as man\- un three 

 in the San Joaquin valley, the first appearing in February. It is not necessary 

 here to go into details of the life history, which Edwards (Butt., vol. 2, 1875: 

 vol. 3, 1891) and others have fully dealt with. The eggs are laid singly, 

 general!}- on the lower surface of the leaves, and 1 have seen as many as 

 seven placed on one tree bv a single female. Thus a small colony of larv;e 



