Not found often, and not in all Missouri counties, my first Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) is enjoying the Butterfly Weed (Ascelpias tuberosa) in the Divine meadow. The white wings with their pale-green undertone, and the bits of red markings above the tail, and the long, long swallow tails, positively identify it out of the lineup that includes the yellowish Tiger Swallowtail and the Pale Swallowtail. I hope you see your own divine Zebra Swallowtail soon.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Butterfly: Zebra Swallowtail
Not found often, and not in all Missouri counties, my first Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) is enjoying the Butterfly Weed (Ascelpias tuberosa) in the Divine meadow. The white wings with their pale-green undertone, and the bits of red markings above the tail, and the long, long swallow tails, positively identify it out of the lineup that includes the yellowish Tiger Swallowtail and the Pale Swallowtail. I hope you see your own divine Zebra Swallowtail soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
We get a lot of them here in Hallsville, Mo. because we grow pawpaw trees, which are the food source of the larval stage.
Very erratic flight pattern and they lay the light green eggs on fresh growth with a dive bomb strategy, never coming to a rest.
The eggs are sticky when dropped, soon dry and attach to the point where nothing short of a purposeful touch will knock them free. They hatch and eat pawpaw leaves. When you hand pull them, they push out smelly antennae to discourage you.
They have never gotten to the point of costing me any fruit, so I mostly leave them alone.
Eggs are knocked off very young trees however, because they could be harmed.
That is fascinating information about the Zebra Swallowtails and pawpaws. Thank you.
Post a Comment