EASTERN BLACK SWALLOWTAIL
Size: 21/8-31/2 inches
Range: All
Texas: Throughout
Flight Time: February-November
The Eastern Black Swallowtail is adapted to many situations within open country. This is a common butterfly of fields and meadows, cultivated farmland, parks, golf courses, and flower gardens. It seems to show no preference between dry uplands and moist marshes, as long as the area is open and not wooded.
A great lover of flowers, it likes to drift among the plants lazily, taking nectar and pausing frequently to bask with wings fully outspread. It is especially attracted to gardens which have both plentiful flowers and good stands of Common Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), Dill (Anethum graveolens), or Parsley (Petroselinum crispum), its larval food plants. Favored nectar plants include blossoms of fruit trees such as Apple and Common Peach along with Lantana, Thoroughwort (Eupatorium havense), Butterfly Weed, Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella), New England Aster (Aster novae-angliae), Phlox, Purple Loosestrife, various Thistles, and Zinnias (Zinnia spp.). The female of the Eastern Black Swallowtail closely mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail, gaining an advantage from the Pipevine's toxicity. The upper wing surfaces of the female are mostly black, with two rows of creamy or pale yellowish dots bordering both wings and with a wide iridescent bluish band between the rows of dots. The upper band of yellow dots is often absent or very faint. The upper wing surface of the male is generally black with two rows of large, very prominent bright yellow spots. The rows of spots are separated on the lower wings by a narrow wash of metallic blue. The lower wing surfaces of both sees are similar to those of the Spicebush Swallowtail, being black with two rows of orangy-red spots separated by a band of widely spaced blue dots. Rows of small yellow dots line the black abdomen. A solitary large, black-centered red or orangish spot in the lower angle of each hindwing occurs on both upper and lower surfaces.
The insect is often seen in moist areas or around mud puddles, methodically sucking up the moisture with its accumulated salts.
To seek mates, a male patrols a chosen area or occasionally claims a perching place from which to fly out to inspect whatever passes by. He changes his perching site frequently, usually not using the same space more than two or three days. The female flies to a hilltop (or to the highest terrain around) to mate, with a male usually in pursuit. Once at the mating ground, the male and female flutter near one another briefly, then land, where they copulate. If the female lives longer than a week, she often mates a second time.
Larva: The young larva may be various shades of brown, or perhaps black and white with a wide white saddle. The mature larva is up to 2 inches long, basically green with wide, crosswise bands of black, the bands interspersed with yellow dots or slashes. The larva does not eat its cast skin after molting, as is common with many species.
Food Plants: Nuttall Mock Bishop's-weed (Ptilimnium nuttallii), Ribbed Mock Bishop's weed (P. costatum), Thread-leaf Mock Bishop's weed (Ptilimnium capillaceum), Prairie Parsley (Polytaenia nuttallii), Teas Dutchman's Breeches (Thamnosma texana) and cultivated Common Fennel, Dill, and Parsley seem to be the favored food plants. Others less commonly used include Anise-root (Osmorhiza longistylis), Common Rue, Rue, Forked Scale-seed (Sper molepis divaricata), Garden Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa), Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota), Rattlesnake-weed (Daucus pusillus), Stalky Berula (Berula erects), Spotted Cowbane (Cicuta maculata), Water-parsnip (Sium suava), Wild Celery (Apium graveolens), Wild Chervil (Cryptotaenia canadensis) and Yellow Pimpernel (Taenidia integerrima).
Parts Eaten: Almost all aboveground parts of plant except tough stem.
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