Interesting adaptation - Citrus swallowtail Larvae

The Citrus Swallowtail is indigenous to South Africa and can be found flying around for most of the year although the pupa hibernates during the colder months.
Before citrus trees were brought here, they fed on various other plants but adapted to their new liking for citrus as there were no other insects on them.

Their systems developed a way to process the oils found in the plant.

The larvae use these oils to develop a noxious smell which is exuded in the red forked scent glands they put out when threatened by predators.

They are large butterflies but unlike most of the species, have no long tails.

Both male and female sip the nectar from various flowers for moisture and energy.

Some of our smaller creatures

I have become very interested in photographing our small creatures. Like all "bugs" I had not really noticed them before and am amazed at the rich variety of types and colors.

A young wasp.
This is a very common grasshopper (family Acrididae), but he was posing so nicely for me, I had to take his picture.

This is the caterpillar of a moth, but have yet to find out what the moth looks like. Unfortunately, most of the species are not named and no one as taken the trouble to try and see what hatches out from them. I have started a project like this at home, but it is a loooonnnnngggg process. LOL!!

A Citrus Butterfly - they lay their eggs on citrus trees, hence the name.

An un-named moth, but quite a furry fellow.

I have never seen a furry beetle but found this one on one of my walks. He is so cute, you almost want to caddle it.

Caterpillars

There, see how easy it was!! LOL!!

Almost everyone got it right again except for You Know Who. He does not have a clue again and thinks it is some wooly mamoth or something. Sigh!! I try so hard to make it easy for him. LOL!!

Then of course there is Troutbirder ...... one of these days it is GOING to be a seed just for you. :)

Thanks for playing everyone.

We have the most fantastic caterpillars here but unfortunately, most of them I cannot match up to moths or butterflies as they have not been catalogued.
They come in all interesting shapes and colors.

Giant Jewel Beetle (Sternocera orissa)

Giant Jewel Beetle (Sternocera orissa) Family Buprestidae
This has a body length of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches in length. Everytime I saw him he seemed to be hanging onto something. LOL!! They are clumsy fliers and the female lays her very large eggs in the ground. (Sternocera orissa)

Close-up of a butterfly Citrus Swallowtail (papilio demodocus)

The Citrus Swallowtail (papilio demodocus)is one of our more common butterflies. It is large with a wingspan of about 85mm. They lay their eggs on citrus trees. I caught this one in the garden and he was frienly enough to crawl on my hand and let me take the following two photographs.
This is a close-up section of the wing. Sometimes I think I should get a microscope for pictures like these.

These were taken of one I found in the garden. He was on his last legs and sat perfectly still while allowing me to take these pictures.