Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The tiger swallowtail is thought of as the American insect, in much the same way as the Bald Eagle is thought of as the American bird. It was the first American insect pictured in Europe; a drawing was sent to England from Sir Walter Raleighs' third expedition to Virginia.

The eastern tiger swallowtails are not yet threatened by human impact on their ecosystem.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

Larvae are polyphagous, meaning they feed externally on the leaves of various woody plants. Foodplants include a variety of poplars, mountain ash, birch, cherry, tulip tree, ash, basswood, apple, maple, willow, magnolia, and occasionally sassafras.

The eastern tiger swallowtail ranges from Alaska and the Hudsonian zone of Canada to the southern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native )

This species occurs in nearly every area where deciduous woods are present, including towns and cities. It is most numerous along streams and river, and in wooded swamps.

Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; mountains

The forewing spans 4 to 7.6 cm. The males are yellow, with black tiger stripes. A large black border surrounds the edges of the wings. In Georgia, the coloring has more of an orange hint. The subspecies australis has been applied to these southeastern tiger swallowtails. Females are dimorphic. Some female swallowtails have the same color pattern as the males, while some are completely black. A variety of patterns between completely black, and yellow with black stripes can be seen in female swallowtails. These two extreme female colorings are thought to coexist because they both have equally beneficial effects. While the tiger striping causes a distracts predators, the dark coloring imitates the unpalatable blue swallowtail.

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Eastern tiger swallowtails reach maturity in the spring. Many generations are produced each year and the last mature butterflies remain into mid-autumn.

The tiger swallowtail, or eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a species of the papilionid butterfly family native to North America. It is large butterfly (wingspan 7.9 – 14 cms), and one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, where it is common in many different habitats. It flies from spring to fall, during which time it produces two to three broods. Adults feed on the nectar of many species of flowers. Males are yellow with four black "tiger stripes" on each fore wing. Females are dimorphic in coloration, and can be found in as either a yellow or black morph. The yellow morph is similar to the male, while the dark form, which has long been thought to mimic the poisonous pipevine (blue) swallowtail, (Battus philenor), is almost completely black. The eastern tiger swallowtail lays her green eggs singly on hostplants in many woody plant families, most commonly on Magnoliaceae and Rosaceae (for example, poplars, mountain ash, birch, cherry, tulip tree, ash, basswood, apple, maple, willow, magnolia, and occasionally sassafras). Young caterpillars (first three instars) are brown and white, with a coloration pattern that mimics bird droppings to help protect it from predators. In later instars, caterpillars are green with two black, yellow, and blue eyespots on the thorax, thought to deter birds. Caterpillars reach a length of 5.5 cm. (Brower 1958; Roof 1999; Hall and Butler 2011; Wikipedia 2011)

Resident throughout North America (Scott 1986), except in the Western United States south of British Columbia and West of the Rocky Mountains. Habitats are DECIDUOUS WOODED AREAS. Host plants include species from many families. Hosts are usually trees or shrubs. Eggs are laid on the host plant singly. Individuals overwinter as pupae. There are are multiple flights each year with the approximate flight time MAY1-AUG30 in the northern part of the range and MAR1-NOV30 in the southern part of their range (Scott 1986). Some accounts include P. rutulus and P. canadiensis as subspecies (Scott 1986).

Papilio alexiares, the Mexican tiger swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Mexico and southern Texas.