Black swallowtail

This is the second year in a row I have grown dill and with the dill come the Black Swallowtail Larvae. This is one of their primary sources of food. I actually watch them grow by the minute with how much and fast they eat. When touched they emit a foul odor and orange antennae stick out of their heads. They do some damage but I leave them alone. They eventually morph into this butterfly. "What a wonder of nature" Feeding on my Ligularia in Connecticut

A Black Swallowtail feeds on a yellow flower in Northern Michigan

The female eastern black swallowtail has less yellow, and more blue markings than here male counterpart...

Female Eastern Black Swallowtail top, male bottom

Papilio polyxenes Smith, James Edward, The natural history of the rarer lepidopterous insects of Georgia, volume 1, Tab 1 (1797) [John Abbot] From the Swallowtail Garden Seeds collection of botanical photographs and illustrations. We hope you will enjoy these images as much as we do.

Black Swallowtail

The black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes) can be found throughout the eastern United States as well as parts of Canada and South America. The swallowtail is often found in backyard gardens and areas with fragrant flowers. Adult swallowtails eat the nectar from these flowers, but when in the caterpillar form they prefer leaves from plants like carrots and parsley.