Eastern Giant Swallowtail (Priority species: Smokies Discovery Impact Day)

Eastern Giant Swallowtail

Papilio cresphontes

Description ⁷

An adult's wingspan is about 100–160 mm (3.9–6.3 in).[2] The abdomen and wings are dark brown to black with yellow bands. There is a yellow "eye" in each wing tail (Fig. 1). The abdomen is yellow laterally (Fig. 2). Underside of wings consists mostly of large yellow spots of various sizes and yellow basally. On the hind wing there is a black medial band consisting of distal blue lunules and two red spots.
The mature larva resembles bird droppings to deter predators, and if that doesn't work they use their orange osmeteria. These are 'horns' which they can display and then retract. The coloration is dingy brown and or olive with white patches and small patches of purple (Fig. 4).

Distribution ⁷

Papilio cresphontes is mainly an eastern species that ranges from southern Ontario south to Florida and east to the Mid-West. In the south it occurs to Texas, Arizona, and California. Its range extends to Mexico, Central America, Jamaica, Cuba, and Colombia.

Host Plants ⁸

The Giant Swallowtail feeds mostly on Prickly-Ash.

Larval host plants ⁷

The larva is the well-known “orangedog” and is considered a minor pest of sweet orange, (Citrus × sinensis (L.)) Osbeck (pro sp.) [maxima × reticulata ] . Host plants of the larvae, besides sweet orange, include native members of the citrus family (Rutaceae), including northern pricklyash (Zanthoxylum americanum Mill.), Hercules-club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis L.), lime pricklyash (Zanthoxylum fagara (L.) Sarg.), hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata L.), sea torchwood (Amyris elemifera L.), Mexican orange (Choisya dumosa [Torr.] A. Gray), and a variety of exotic Rutaceae, including gasplant (Dictamnus albus L.) and white sapote (Casimiroa edulis Llave & Lex.). (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN13400.pdf)

Sources and Credits

More Info

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