Rural Perpectives: Tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

The tiger swallowtail is a butterfly named after a bird and a wild cat.
Photo credit Diane Constable

by Diane Constable

If you look around the fields on a warm sunny day or in your garden when the red, purple or orange flowers are in bloom, you are likely to see one of our largest butterflies — the beautiful tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).

The females will lay their eggs on tree leaves, prefering birch, poplar, ash, tulip or cherry trees. They go from the egg, larvae and pupal stages to an adult in about four weeks. They will have two to three broods per season.

The catepillars protect themselves from predators by spitting out a foul-smelling substance when they feel threatened. They also are good at camouflage — looking very much like bird droppings to the untrained eye.

With tiger stripes and bright yelow wings, the tiger swallowtail is one of our prettiest butterflies. The male, like the one pictured here, has just a small patch of blue on his hind wings. The bottom wings have long “tails,” which reminded people of the forked tails of the swallow birds.

Some cultures believe that this stunning butterfly represents intuition, inspiration, vulnerability, inner beauty and consciousness. It is the State Insect of Virginia and the State Butterfly of Georgia, South Carolina and Delaware.