Butterfly: Spicebush Swallowtail
Papilio troilus
Sept. 23, 2012
 


  Spicebush swallowtails (Papilio troilus) are large black butterflies that grace the land and delight the eye.

Even so, it has taken me seven years to update this page, from the little photos from dial-up days to something better suited for DSL. The images are still not particularly large (if you're someone using dial-up).

The spicebush swallowtail's colors are similar to a female black swallowtail. The main difference is that a female spicebush swallowtail has a single row of white/pale yellow dots along the outer wings.

 
Female spicebush swallowtail
 
  The male spicebush swallowtail has a faint inner row of dots as well, barely seen here.
 
Male spicebush swallowtail
 
  My blurry (from taken indoors) photo of 2005 shows the inner line of the spicebush a little better. Note that it isn't parallel with the outer line. With a female black swallowtail, both lines are parallel.
 
Male spicebush swallowtail, wings open, resting on a hibiscus.
 
  The under-the-wing view of the spicebush swallowtail is simply beautiful.
 
Spicebush swallowtail, under the wing
 
  There was a little bit of wing flutter in the photo above.

Photo note: The photos were taken with the Pentax K20D, from 2011 and 2012 (with the older one from 2005, with a Pentax *1st D).



Pennsylvania butterflies

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