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The Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucas) is a strong flier with distinctive yellow and black striped markings on its wings and body (some females are brown or black, mimicking the poisonous pipevine swallowtail). This relatively common butterfly has a wingspan of 3.5-6.5 inches (9-16.5 cm). Southern subspecies are larger than the northern ones.

These butterflies are called swallowtails because they have long "tails" on their hindwings which look a bit like the long, pointed tails of swallows (a type of bird).

The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly frequents woodlands (including temperate deciduous forests) and grasslands, but is also found in a variety of environments, including cities. It is found throughout the Eastern USA and Canada.

LIFE-CYCLE

Butterflies and moths undergo complete metamorphosis in which they go through four different life stages. It takes about a month for the egg to mature into an adult.

Egg: A butterfly starts its life as an egg. The female Tiger Swallowtail butterfly lays its spherical, yellow-green eggs on the leaf high in a tulip tree, sweet bay, wild black cherry, ash, lilac, aspen=, birch, or choke cherry. When the egg hatches, its meals (the leaves of one of these plant) are easily available.

Caterpillar: The larva (caterpillar) hatches from an egg and eats the egg shell. Then it eats leaves (almost constantly). The newly-hatched larva is brown and white, and looks like bird droppings, but it turns green later. The caterpillar molts (loses its old skin) many times as it grows. The caterpillar is plump, smooth, and green with large yellow eyespots" that have black "pupils." There is a yellow and black stripe where its "neck" should be. The larva lives in a nest that it makes high in the trees by folding a leaf over and securing it with silk. It grows to be up to about 2 inches (5 cm) long. Just before pupating, it sometimes turns brown.

Pupa: It turns into a pupa (chrysalis); this is a resting stage. As the body transforms into a butterfly, it neither eats nor drinks.

Male
Some females are dark, mimicking the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail Adult: A beautiful, flying adult emerges. There is no growth during this stage, but the butterfly will sip nectar. This adult will continue the cycle by reproducing. Females produce two broods in the north, three in the south.

Wings have distinctive yellow and black stripes. Some females (especially in the south) are much darker, mimicking the poisonous Pipevine butterfly.

PROTECTION FROM PREDATORS

Caterpillar: The caterpillar is camouflaged to look like bird droppings when it is very young. Later, it develops distinctive eyespots, which make it look like a snake, scaring off some predators.

Butterfly: The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is not a poisonous butterfly, but many females (especially southern subspecies) are much darker, mimicking the poisonous Pipevine butterfly (Battus philenor). Animals that eat it the poisonous Pipevine butterfly get very sick and vomit (but generally do not die). These animals remember that this brightly-colored butterfly made them very sick and will avoid all butterflies with similar markings (including the Tiger Swallowtail) in the future.

CLASSIFICATION

Order: Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
Family: Papilionidae (apollos, swallowtails, and birdwings)