Zebra Longwing

Description:

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail can be identified by its large size and bright yellow color with black tiger stripes. Male tiger swallowtails have a few orange and blue spots near the tail. Females have both a light and dark form. The wingspan ranges from 3.1 to 5.5 inches, with females being the larger sex. Southern Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are larger than northern ones. When caterpillars first hatch, their colors look a lot like bird poop. This helps camouflage them. As they get older, they turn green with a large head and bright eyespots. The eyespots aren't really eyes. They are probably there to scare away predators, or to make them attack the wrong part of the butterfly. A butterfly can lose part of a wing and still survive. When caterpillars are fully grown, they will then become pupae (resting stage). The name for a butterfly pupa is chrysalis.