Meet the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly in Midwest Landscapes
Photo © Carol Freeman
The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly is a large butterfly with a wingspan of 2.5-4.5 inches and gets its name from the “tails” on its hindwings. Its range covers Eastern North America, from Ontario south to the Gulf Coast, and west across the plains and into Texas. It flies from spring to fall, during which time it produces two to three broods.
Caterpillar host plants:
Leaves of various plants including wild cherry, sweet bay, basswood, tulip
tree, birch, ash, cottonwood, mountain ash and willow.
Adult food:
Nectar of flowers from a variety of plants including wild cherry and lilac.
Milkweed and Joe-Pye weed
are favorites in summer.
Habitat:
Forests and along streams, but is equally at home in gardens, parks and
suburbs.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Papilionidae
Facts:
• The first known drawing of a North American butterfly was of an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail drawn in 1587 during Sir Walter Raleigh’s third expedition to Virginia.
• The female has two forms: one yellow like the male and the other black with blue highlights.
