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I just found some nice flowering bushes behind my apartment block here in Panama with lots of female Parides eurimedes or anchises not totally sure yet.
Which aristolochia sp. is best for rearing Parides? I have already asked dozens of nurseries but they only have aristolochia leuconeura. Can I just propagate my own aristolochia from cuttings in the wild? What’s the best way?
Appreciate any advice!

Lol. A lepidopterist in Panama. You’re going to have problems.

Here our Lep season is done by September except for Catocala. By then I’m exhausted. You my friend are going to burn out.

Parides eurimedes has pink margins between the veins of the hindwing, whereas in P. anchises they are white. If you post photos I may be able to ID them. There are a number of different species in Panama, not just those two. Also it would be useful to know which part of Panama you are located in as it is a rather long country.

I suspect that the commoner species will feed on many species of Aristolochia. It would take a long time to propagate them from cuttings to a size that you can use to feed larvae. It would be better to obtain plants, either from a nursery or by digging up wild plants and planting them where you live.

Adam.

Sounds like a great rearing program !
I agree with Adam, try to find some wild Aristolochia and plant them in your garden.

And post us some pictures of your rearing experience if it works !
Good luck !

@adamcotton I did my best and took a photo of the underside and upperside of one male and one female. Really curious which species this is.
Both were caught on the 25th of May right here in Panama City near the Metropolitan Park at 30m height above sea level, and next to the forest.

Chuck wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:57 am Lol. A lepidopterist in Panama. You’re going to have problems.

Here our Lep season is done by September except for Catocala. By then I’m exhausted. You my friend are going to burn out.

Hahah I wish! But unfortunately after the first six months I really started missing those palearctic butterflies that I know from Europe. Two years ago I could witness a mass emergence of Polyommatus coridon in a meadow, thousands of them, or the Colias and Parnassius in Switzerland high up in the mountains below a glacier sometimes you can find dozens at once, and meadows filled with all kinds of butterflies, only two or three weeks a year but very concentrated. I feel here in the tropics it is much less concentrated, and just now after six months I found one spot with flowers where forest butterflies meet. During the last six months I only had a bit of success with bait traps, some common species, the most interesting one was a catogramma sp. And I know one river where there are four morpho species flying in June. Apart from that I still haven't found the right spot for mud puddling Eurytides or Papilios, lets see if I can find one when I go to Santa Fe and Chiriqui further up in the forests.

wollastoni wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 9:58 am Sounds like a great rearing program !
I agree with Adam, try to find some wild Aristolochia and plant them in your garden.

And post us some pictures of your rearing experience if it works !
Good luck !

Will keep you guys updated for sure!

This looks like Parides anchises farfan from the photos. That subspecies occurs around the Canal Zone. You should also have Parides panares lycimenes in the area. The outer edge of the red hindwing band in the male of panares should be straighter than anchises. Parides iphidamas is also present in Panama, but not in the Canal Zone.

The species with red fringes to the hindwing margins would be Parides eurimedes mycale. The male has a more pointed forewing apex and the red band of the hindwing should enter the discal cell. Also the scent scales inside the hindwing androconial fold of this species are black, not white as in the two previous species.

If you catch more specimens that look different please feel free to post photos.

Adam.

I will definitely try to catch more specimens, and once they are spread share the photos here. I initially tried inaturalist to identify the specimens but probably a lot of the ids are not correct since people only id by photo. I even found parides sesostris, erithalion and eurimedes there for this area but it’s often only a single photo of the side.

@adamcotton I just checked the androconial fold and it’s white. So that means it’s Parides anchises farfan for sure?

I think they are, but panares also has white scales in the androconial fold. Once they are spread if you can post new photos that would be better.

Adam.

Will do that! Should I spread the androconial fold? I remember we had this disucssion once a few years ago. What is the best practice?

It is always better to spread the androconial fold, then markings on the underside of the fold are also visible on a photo of the underside, as well as seeing the colour of the scales inside the fold.

Adam.