Photo of the Day #302: Eastern tiger swallowtails

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Eastern tiger swallowtail butterflies (Papilio glaucus) on a butterfly bush in central New Jersey. Photographed August 2, 2008.


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Great photos! They look like P. glaucus to me, though; I don't think P. multicaudata is found this far east, and the smaller tails on the latter should be a lot longer if intact. P. glaucus does have the set of nubby little not-quite-second-tails that are visible in the photo.

The thick wing stripes and heavy blue scaling indicate that both of your guests are females. We had a beautiful male P. glaucus hanging around our butterfly bush here in Rochester, NY last week -- the males have thinner wing stripes and few or no blue scales.

August in the Northeast really is big-game season, butterfly-wise. Keep that camera handy!

By Julie Stahlhut (not verified) on 07 Aug 2008 #permalink

Thanks, Julie! I had a feeling I was wrong but I was hoping someone who knew more than I would correct me. If it's not big and doesn't have a mouth full of fangs, apparently I need some help. :)

I have a lot more photos from that morning, many of them much better than these. I was in a rush and couldn't pick better ones, but hopefully I'll have some more tomorrow. Thanks for the help!