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 Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly is such a pretty butterfly to observe. I have seen several of these type of butterflies in my Leesburg, Florida gardens; however, I have yet to photograph one here. I did observe many of these butterflies in my Jacksonville, Florida gardens.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - Jacksonville, Florida

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly was photographed in my Mexican Petunias located in my side yard gardens in Jacksonville. I've also got Mexican Petunias in my Leesburg front yard garden, so I am hopeful to snap a photo or two of this pretty butterfly.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - Jacksonville, Florida

Checking the Wikipedia reference, this appears to be the female because of its ventral side markings. "The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black." Pretty cool how the female is dimorphic!

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - Jacksonville, Florida

I recently photographed a female dark morph, the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly. The wingspan can be up to 5.5 inches with the females being larger than the males.

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

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

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly

The Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly is reportedly a pretty common type of butterfly and also the most beautiful and interesting of the swallowtails. This morning at the Lake County Extension Service Discovery Gardens, I photographed my first such swallowtail.

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

I had recently blogged about the Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly and thought, at first, this might be one of them! However, as I walked around Discovery Gardens and then came back to the Butterfly House, I knew it was something different!

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

Checking the University of Florida, Entomology and Nematology Department, photos, it appears this butterfly is a male. The bluish color on the bottom of the wings indicates male.

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

Looking at the body, black with white dots, that is quite similar to the Eastern Black Swallowtail.

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

Another comparison to the Eastern Black Swallowtail is the colored spots on the underside bottom of the wings. The Spicebush Swallowtail has an area of blue coloring instead of the spots which distinguishes it from that type of swallowtail.

Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly - Discovery Gardens

When it comes to mating, "both sexes will copulate with several mates during mating season. However, each time a female mates, she becomes less likely to mate again." ~Wikipedia. "The entire development process from egg to adult takes about a month. Once they have reached the adult stage, Papilio troilus can live anywhere from two days to two weeks dependent on resource availability and predator avoidance."

Did you know that the Spicebush Swallowtail is a puddler? They will engage in puddling as an adult when flying in search of food or a mate. Flying together in groups near banks of water, they will extract moisture from the sand or soil near these banks of water.

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

• Adult Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
• Anise Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Black Swallowtail Butterfly
• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
• Gulf Fritillary 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