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Papilio glaucus
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly feeding on Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa), a species of milkweed. This individual is a male, as indicated by the absence of blue and orange markings on the lower edge of its hindwings. Tiger Swallowtail is the State Insect of Virginia. Related Resources: Asclepias tuberosa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepias_t... List of U.S. state insects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S...
The Children’s Garden at Hollin Meadows Science and Math Focus School, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. Related Resource: http://www.fcps.edu/HollinMeadowsES/
My sincere thanks to the commenters who helped me ID the flowering plant on which the butterfly is feeding, and thanks for the kind words regarding my photograph!
what an amazing shot! i got 'wow'ed!.. i felt sorry for that butterfly for losing its tail though.. she still looks beautiful..
The poor butterfly had one of his tails ripped off... Do you know how that happened?
Great pic by the way!
So many new plants to me out there! Very beautiful butterfly and flowers!
I think it might be Butterfly Weed. I've suggested it as an ID for you to explore. Beautiful photo!