Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucas)

• 17 Jun, 2014
• 6 likes

Look who stopped by to visit today. This is why I like to grow a patch of wild flowers - to help these guys out. 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).