Swallowtail Butterflies
Swallowtail Butterflies are members of the Papilionidae family and they live throughout the world. They get their name from the swallow bird because they have similar looking tails coming off of their hind wings. The Swallowtail is the only butterfly who in caterpillar form can secrete a foul smelling substance for protection. This comes from a special organ called the osmeterium.
There are over 500 different species of Swallowtail Butterflies. They are brightly colored in yellows, greens, blues and oranges. The Swallowtail is the largest butterfly in the United States with a wingspan of up to 5-½ inches. Most Swallowtail Butterflies are found in tropical climates. There are over two dozen kinds of Swallowtail Butterflies in the United States.
Tiger Swallowtails are named because of their yellow color and black stripes. They like to feed on cherry and birch trees. The Zebra Swallowtail is black and white striped as one might suspect and eats pawpaw. Black Swallowtail Butterflies eat carrots and parsley. The Giant Swallowtail caterpillars are not welcomed by all humans because they feed on citrus trees. They are sometimes known as orange dogs. All adult Swallowtail Butterflies feed off of nectar.
The Swallowtail Butterfly has some species that can be seen in the Eastern United States. These include the Spicebush Swallowtail, the Black Swallowtail, the Pipevine swallowtail and the Tiger swallowtail. The Spicebush Swallowtail has black wings with edge spots, and it is one of the butterflies that has eyes along its back to confuse predators. The caterpillars like to feed on spicebush and hence comes their name.
Another of the most common butterflies in North America is the Black Swallowtail. This is a large butterfly with a wingspan of 8-11 centimeters. The male of the species has yellow spots. The female also has spots but hers are more faded yellows and blues. They have black dots in large orange circles on the inner edge of the hind wings. That marking distinguishes them from Giant Swallowtails and Pipevine Swallowtails which they closely resemble.
In all there are thirty-three species of Swallowtail Butterflies in North America. Other common varieties are the Canadian Tiger, who can be found across Alaska, Canada and the Great Lakes to northern parts of New England, and the Western Tiger, who lives in the region from British Columbia south to New Mexico and Baja, CA, and east to W. Dakota and Southeast Colorado. A third Tiger Swallowtail, the Eastern Swallowtail lives all up and down the East Coast from Ontario to the Gulf Coast States and west to Colorado and Texas.
If you should spot a Swallowtail Butterfly with a missing tail, it means deception works. The tails are meant to look like antennae so if a predator bites onto it, he can only get a piece of the tail and not damage the head which he thinks he is attacking.