Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Butterflies of Alabama)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Papilio glaucus

Summary ⁷

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, where it is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring to fall, during which it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers, mostly from those of the Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae families. P. glaucus has a wingspan...

Taxon biology ⁸

The tiger swallowtail, or eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of the papilionid butterfly family native to North America. It is large butterfly (wingspan 7.9 – 14 cms), and one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, where it is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring to fall, during which time it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers. Males are yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each fore wing. Females are dimorphic in coloration, and can be found in as either a yellow or black morph. The yellow morph is similar to the male, while the dark form, which has long been thought to mimic the poisonous pipevine (blue) swallowtail, (Battus philenor), is almost completely black.

The eastern tiger swallowtail lays her green eggs singly on hostplants in many woody plant families, most commonly on Magnoliaceae and Rosaceae (for example, poplars, mountain ash, birch, cherry, tulip tree, ash, basswood, apple, maple, willow, magnolia, and occasionally sassafras). Young caterpillars (first three instars) are brown and white, with a coloration pattern that mimics bird droppings to help protect it from predators. In later instars, caterpillars are green with two black, yellow, and blue eyespots on the thorax, thought to deter birds. Caterpillars reach a length of 5.5 cm.

(Brower 1958; Roof 1999; Hall and Butler 2011; Wikipedia 2011)

Sources and Credits

(c) Ken Slade, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/10789832@N00/3283987246
(c) Picasa, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://lh5.ggpht.com/-EBwnji7fFtk/TlFfeYOueMI/AAAAAAAACdI/mbtmT_wPpIg/s1024/P1070916.jpg
(c) Picasa, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://lh3.ggpht.com/-krIyvxDyvG4/UEPo6jFBIUI/AAAAAAAAPN8/KTsTVyVu88w/P1150053.JPG
(c) Rob Curtis, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), uploaded by Rob Curtis
(c) Katherine Boyle, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Katherine Boyle
(c) Emma Tutein, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Emma Tutein
(c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_glaucus
(c) Unknown, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/14839291

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