Black Swallowtail

Description:

This is a male.The black swallowtail has a wingspan of 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in). The upper surface of the wings is mostly black. On the inner edge of the hindwing is a black spot centered in larger orange spot. A male of this species has a yellow band near edge of wings; a female has row of yellow spots. The hindwing of the female has an iridescent blue band.

Habitat:

found throughout much of North America

Notes:

I decided to take a break from posting the spottings from my winter trip and add a few spottings that I have seen recently in my area. I started yesterday with the Cecropia Moth. This Black Swallowtail was spotted at Baden Powell Park. I spent about 30 minutes with this butterfly to get these shots. It kept flying away when I got close but then I would wait and it would fly back to the same small patch of forest every time. I was really happy to get these shots. Though I had seen many swallowtails last year and a few this year, this was the first time I was able to photograph them.