Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The insects are definitely out and about. I had half a dozen mosquito bites Saturday night, all inside the assumed safety of my well-screened apartment. But let’s highlight some living invertebrates this week, starting with the always stunning Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Unmistakably big and yellow, right? This is a female, with much more blue than the male. However, there’s a female version further south that mimics the Pipevine Swallowtail, so it is much darker, with virtually no yellow at all.

This one was all over the place, but paying particular attention to a young magnolia, one of their host species. I was looking for evidence of egg-laying but did not see it.

Here’s a late instar or stage of the caterpillar for this species.