Anise Swallowtail Butterfly

The Anise Swallowtail Butterfly is a butterfly more common to Western United States, but is occasionally seen in the Southeast. When I observed this particular butterfly on August 10th at the Lake County Extension Service's Discovery Gardens, I wasn't sure which type of swallowtail butterfly it was.

Anise Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

Observing this butterfly, I noticed it was smaller than the other swallowtails and had an interesting body that was yellow with black stripings running head to toe, so to speak. The Wikipedia reference states the opposite: "the body is predominantly black, with yellow stripes running laterally along the abdomen."

Anise Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

This was a difficult butterfly to photograph in Discovery Gardens as I observed it quickly flitting from one part of the park to the other. It did seem to gravitate to the Jatropha integerrima which was just outside the Butterfly House and also in other locations.

Anise Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

When I photographed this swallowtail, I had just photographed the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly near the Butterfly House. Trying to correctly identify the Anise Swallowtail, it is smaller than the Tiger Swallowtail and lacks the vertical black striping patterns. "There are yellowish-orange to red eyespots near the tails of each wing, each containing a black pupil."~Wikipedia

Anise Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

Check out my other sightings of butterflies in Leesburg and Jacksonville, Florida:

• Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
• Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
• Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
• Zebra Longwing Butterfly

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly

The Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly is quite the interesting butterfly! It was a very hot and humid afternoon yesterday, August 8, 2017. I had observed this butterfly earlier in the day. When it arrived later in the afternoon, for an extended photographic shoot, it was buzzing away at the burgundy Penta blossoms. It appeared to be intoxicated with this plant!

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

The behavior of this particular Swallowtail Butterfly was much like the Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly I observed about a week ago in the same burgundy Penta plant.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

It is concerning to learn that this beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly is occasionally considered a pest! And, it is also the most common and most studied butterfly!!

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

Observing the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly, it appeared to be intoxicated with the Penta. It was buzzing away, flitting its wings, so much so, you'd think it was a hummingbird. I snapped quite a few photos from my kitchen window and then came outside to get closer. With the butterfly hanging around for what seemed like a long time -- definitely 30 minutes or more -- I was sure I'd get a photo that would help me to identify the sex.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

The first photograph on UF's page on the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly shows a female with its wings spread. "The area between the rows of spots on the hind wings of females is powdery iridescent blue. The blue area in males is much less prominent." Checking my first and third photo, that matches up the blue spots to say this butterfly is a female.

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

"The under sides of wings of males and females are virtually identical. The front wings have two rows of pale yellow spots. Hind wings have rows of bright orange spots separated by areas of powdery blue."

Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, Florida

You can see a comparison of photos of the male vs female Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Wikipedia.

This butterfly has the distinction of being named the state butterfly for two states -- Oklahoma and New Jersey! It's curious to note that its caterpillar is named the parsley worm because the caterpillar actually feeds on parsley. I'd say that butterfly grew up having good taste, but it absorbs toxins from host plants which makes it taste bad to predators -- good news, bad news!

It is an interesting fact that males can only mate-copulate twice a day while females will mate more than once to replace sperm supply. It is impressive to note that copulations will last around 45 minutes.

Check out my other sightings of butterflies in Leesburg and Jacksonville, Florida:

• Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
• Anise Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
• Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
• Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
• Zebra Longwing Butterfly

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly

It was a distinct pleasure to observe and photograph the Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly in my front yard garden on Friday, August 4, 2017 at about 1:05pm.

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

For more than a year, since I installed my front yard garden in Leesburg, Florida, I have observed numerous butterflies. The most abundant butterfly I have observed has been a Swallowtail. However, this is the first observation and subsequent photography of one so large.

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

This Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly was seemingly intoxicated with my burgundy Penta plant. I easily captured nearly two dozen photographs.

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

The better photographs were taken from my front yard garden. I didn't know whether the butterfly would stay put on the Penta plant or fly away if I came closer.

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

When I stepped into my front yard garden, I noticed a very large Monarch Butterfly just arrived and was flitting around the front of the garden near the Mexican Petunias. As I approached to take just one photograph of the Monarch, it flew to my right near the 3 Firecracker plants and then seemed to fly off.

Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

I am trying to improve my butterfly photography and think I might have a better chance of top-notch photographs if I use a better camera, such as the Nikon D5300. These photographs were all taken with the Fuji Finepix V10 -- that is a fabulous little digital camera that I have had for a very long time!

Underside of Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly - Leesburg, FL

The giant swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes Cramer, is a striking, wonderfully "exotic"-looking butterfly that is very abundant in Florida. ~University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department

If you want to read some interesting facts about the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly, you must check out UF's site. "The osmeterium of fourth and fifth instars contains a highly noxious, pungent mixture of chemicals (40:60 mixture of isobutyric acid and 2-methyl butyric acid) that smells like rancid butter."

Did you know that "the larval or caterpillar stage can be considered a pest due to its habit of feeding on the foliage of most Citrus species."
Check out my other sightings of butterflies in Leesburg and Jacksonville, Florida:

• Anise Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
• Gulf Fritillary Butterfly
• Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly
• Zebra Longwing Butterfly