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20.7.07

Black Swallowtail-Papilio polyxenes

Black Swallowtail butterfly Papilio polyxenesOne day while photographing the Red Admiral Butterflies in my garden this Black Swallowtail stopped for a short visit. I'd never seen a Papilio polyxenes in my garden before so I rushed to get the camera to photograph it. Unfortunately it didn't stay still long enough to get a sharp picture of it but I was at least able to document its visit to my garden.



I love the dark coloring of this butterfly and I may get a second chance to photograph it because the third generations sometimes emerge in August or September. If there isn't a third generation I'll prepare my garden for next year by planting dill and some Queen Anne's Lace to attract it. Sometimes in the Chicago area you can see this butterfly in abandoned sunny lots with lots of weeds. This butterfly can be found from southern Canada all the way down to northern Mexico.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:45 PM

    Gorgeous. I've never seen a butterfly like that in Oregon, but we have lots of swallowtails. Great catch with the camera!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful butterfly....I have never seen one like that in Idaho either.
    Be careful with Queen Anne's Lace...it reseeds like gangbusters!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Sassy and Connie,

    sorry for the late reply. Sassy I've never seen the yellow version of this one and I'd love to have one in my photo collection.

    Connie,

    I'll keep your warning in mind and remember to dead head.

    ReplyDelete

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