Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)
The series of photos above start with an Anise Swallowtail egg on Fennel. The egg starts out as pale yellow and turns very dark as the caterpillar matures. It takes about two weeks to hatch into a tiny caterpillar and about a month to grow into the full its size of about 2 inches long. The 4th instar caterpillars shown are black like the earlier instars but some 4th instar caterpillars are same green with black bands as the 5th instar. The 5th instar caterpillars also vary somewhat in the ratio the black bands to the green body.
This series of nine photos shows the caterpillar shedding its skin to reveal the chrysalis underneath. Steps 1 through 8 took about 10 minutes and chrysalis took its final form shown in step 9 in another 30 minutes. The chrysalises are either green or brown depending on the surroundings of the caterpillar.
This photo shows a newly hatched adult shortly after its wings have expanded. The butterfly left shortly after this photo.