1973] 
Young — Parides areas mylotes 
9 
The second instar is remarkably similar in appearance to the first 
instar, with the only major difference being a loss of the spines seen 
on tubercles in the previous instar. The larva (Fig. 2-E, F) retains 
the six rows of spines of the first instar, in addition to the shiny 
black head and true legs. The precise arrangement of the tubercles 
is very noticeable in this instar. The first four thoracic segments 
bear two pairs of lateral tubercles, and the uppermost pair disappears 
until the tenth segment where it is resumed until the twelfth seg- 
ment. The two pairs of lateral tubercles on these segments are not 
precisely in line: the tubercle of thoracic segment i are juxtaposed 
with those of thoracic segment 2 etc. The lateral tubercles of the 
thoracic segment i are considerably shorter than these tubercles on 
the remaining segments. The dorsal pair of tubercles on abdominal 
segments i and 4 are white, while the upper lateral pair of the fourth 
and fifth abdominal segments are also white. The highly reduced 
dorsal pair of the abdominal segment 1 1 are also white. This pat- 
tern of tubercle arrangement and coloration is retained throughout 
the rest of larval life. By the second molt, the larva is about 14 mm 
long. 
The third instar is an exact replica of the second instar except that 
the ground color of the body is a very deep purplish black. The third 
instar is shown in Fig. 2-G. By the time of the third molt, the larva 
is about 23 mm long. The fourth instar (Fig. 3-A) is identical to 
the third instar except that the skin is very shiny and reflective. It 
attains a length of 35 mm by the fourth molt. 
A dramatic change in the ground color occurs with the molt to 
the fifth instar (Fig. 3-B, C). The ground color is a dull, velvety 
purplish-brown mottled with irregular blotches of black. The black 
coloration is most extensive on the segments bearing white tubercles 
(Fig. 3-B, C). The wfrite ridge along the anterior edge of the 
osmeterial cuff behind the head is more prominent in this instar. As 
this instar continues to grow, the ground color becomes even lighter 
in coloration as extensive velvety grayish-tan areas replace the for- 
merly purplish-brown areas of the body. The coloration of the dark 
tubercles is also variegated during the fifth instar, with each tubercle 
bearing lines of white in addition to the mottled coloration of the 
Fig. 2. Life cycle and behavior of Parides areas mylotes (Bates). 
(A) dorsal view of two eggs on a leaf; note the rough surface and sticky 
strands on the eggs (B) single egg showing deep vertical grooves (C) sin- 
gle egg in crotch of stems (D) first instar, lateral view (E) two second 
instar larvae (one is feeding) (F) several second instar larvae living to- 
gether (G) third instar, dorsal view. 
