Papilio machaon bairdi

Photo Life History: Papilio machaon bairdi

Habitat:  Mountain Canyons; Mountain Hilltops

Host Plants:  Artemisia dracunculus; Lomatium grayi grayi; Lomatium junceum

Suitable Lab Host Plants: Foeniculum vulgare

Caring for Live Female Butterflies:  Feed females regularly.

Methods of Female Oviposition:  Open Screen Cages

How to Find Eggs: Isolated Host Plants.  Look on the tops of leaves.

How to Hatch Eggs:  Consolidate eggs into one container

How to Find Caterpillars in the Field:  Can be abundant where the butterfly flies well.  Isolated populations fly throughout the Western U.S.

Caterpillar setups:  Open terrariums; Open Bucket

Overwintering Stage:  Pupa. 

Overwintering Strategies: Your Own Backyard; Refrigerator

Larva to Pupa:  Larva purges and wanders

Emergence:  Emergence Container

Number of Broods per Year: 1-3 depending upon location.

Avoiding Diapause Techniques:  Healthy Host Plant; Long Day Photophase

Disease Prevention:  Change out host plant and remove frass every four to six days. 

Field Notes:  Baird's swallowtail caterpillars rest on the top of leaves; not necessarily underneath a leaf as is true with other machaon group swallowtails.