Thanks, Chuck

Dear Moderators,
I spent about 45 minutes trying to download my photographs to
the Forum page in the correct sequence, avoiding repeats.
It seems to be too complicated for
an ordinary Ph.D. Please remove extras from my post.
Tanks,
Sergey

Here are a few more weird backyard flowers:
Dracunculus vulgaris
Aristolochia macroura
Aristolochia fimbriata

I felt like a kid who broke his favorite toy.
I am a proud owner of an exciting specimen now,
- thank you all for your comments!

7-8 years? Congratulations!

kevinkk and Trehopr1,
Thank you both for your words of consolation. 
P. rutulus is a pretty common butterfly in CA,
I hope to get more in the future.

Unfortunately, I've damaged the right forewing - Murphy's law.
The wingspan is exactly 100 mm in the dried specimen.

Thank you both!

Found a huge greenish pupa on a willow branch back in January. The female eclosed in mid-April. This is a common butterfly in California, however, the size of that specimen is above my expectations: about 99-100 mm wingspan in the "standard" spread position.

My backyard has no shortage of M.sexta, and our local Home Depot has
plenty of Jalapeno. I'll try again, and let you guys know.

Trehopr1 and jhyatt,
Thank you for your replies.
I did exchange the alcohol solution a few times until it became clear.
There is no problem storing any specimens in alcohol,
however, my goal was to preserve dried specimens.
I do not have freeze-drying equipment.

Update on large pupae processing: Manduca sexta pupae were euthanized by freezing, and stored in 80% ethanol for two months. The result was disastrous: upon drying, the pupae became covered with whitish flakes. It looks like the outer layer of the pupa's cuticle (epicuticle?) is peeled off. Next tim...

Thanks, livingplanet3

Does anyone have any info on the structure and possible function of a flipper-like outgrowth on the dorsal side of Limenitis lorquini chrysalis? It is present in other Limenitis species as well... As both the larvae and chrysalides are bird dropping mimics, perhaps this projection serves to give a ...

Does anyone have any info on the structure and possible
function of a flipper-like outgrowth on the dorsal side of
Limenitis lorquini chrysalis? It is present in other
Limenitis species as well.

Trehopr1, Thank you for your reply. Alcohol can certainly fix the proteins in the pupae, however, it cannot dissolve the fat. That's why I thought about acetone which can replace both water and fat (the pupae are dark brown, almost black, there is no problem with discoloration). Perhaps, this is an ...

I have a few large (50-60 mm) Sphingidae pupae that I like to preserve rather than wait for the hatching. I guess the most "scientific" way is to preserve them in alcohol or formaldehyde, however, I'd prefer keeping them pinned in the drawer. Should I immerse them first in alcohol or aceto...

The pupae of some Sphingidae possess an external structure, presumably covering the developing proboscis of future moth. It looks like it is present only in some species of Sphinginae subfamily and absent in Macroglossinae and Smerinthinae. Does anyone know the scientific name of this structure? Is ...

Santa's gift: just eclosed

Thanks to everyone who replied to my post. The fly I caught does look like a Tachinid. Decades ago I experienced problems with wild-caught larvae of Deilephila elpenor: some were killed by Tachinidae larvae just before the pupation, others - by parasitoid wasps, emerging at Spring from overwintering...