186 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



THE BLACK SWALLOW-TAIL. 



Papilio Asterias^ Cramer. 

 The larva of this insect was received from two parties with com- 

 plaints of its ravages upon parsnips, carrots and celery. It is 

 commonly known as the Parsley worm but feeds upon many plants 

 cultivated and wild that belong to the Parsley family. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The perfect male insect is a black butterfly with a double row of 

 yellow spots on its back ; a broad band composed of 3'ellow spots 

 across the wings and a row of yellow spots near the hind margin ; 

 hind wings tailed and have seven blue spots between the yellow 

 band and the outer row of yellow spots, and near the inner angle is 

 an orange spot with a black center. Paler below and spotted with 

 orange. The female has only a few indistinct yellow spots on the 

 upper side of the wings. Expanse of wing three and a half to 

 four inches. 



Larva when full grown is about an inch and a half long and of a 

 delicate apple-green or greenish-yellow color above, paler on the 

 sides and whitish below. The body is transversely banded with 

 black, each band bearing a row of six yellow spots. When disturbed 

 the caterpillar thrusts out from the first or second segment of the 

 head, an orange Y shaped organ, which emits a disagreeable odor. 



Pupa an inch and a quarter long, pale green ochre yellow or ash 

 gray in color; there are two short ear-like projections above the 

 head. Pupa attached b}^ the tail to a pad of silk and supported 

 across the middle of the body by a loop of silk. 



LIFE HISTORY. 



The buttei'flies appear in June and lay the eggs upon carrots, 

 parsnips, celery, caraway and other umbelliferous plants. The 

 worms, after several molts, are mature in about a month, leave the 

 plants and finding a suitable place on a fence, building, or trunk of 

 a tree, make the silken pad and loop, and in a day or so changes 

 to the pupa. In from nine to fifteen days, depending on the 

 weather, the butterfly emerges, and in due time lays eggs which 

 hatch. These larvre mature and enter the pupa state in the fall and 

 remain in this condition until the following spring, when the butter- 

 flies emerge, completing the life history. 



