Sunday, January 10, 2010

Giant Swallowtail

In this part of the country we typically see 3 different types of swallowtail butterflies. Two of these swallowtail are yellow and look very similar. The more common of these two is the eastern tiger swallowtail and the other yellow is the Canadian tiger swallowtail, the range of both of these two overlaps in Minnesota with the Canadian primarily in the north and eastern in the south. The third type of swallowtail that we typically see is the black swallowtail, which as its name implies is black in color making it easy to distinguish.
In August of 2008 an eruption of a fourth type of swallowtail, the giant swallowtail, occurred in the south eastern part of the state. The giant swallowtail is one of the largest butterflies found in North America. Its typical range is the eastern half of the US up to Iowa and southern Wisconsin in the north and the Rockies in the west, as well as the south western US, Mexico and down into South America. The larval form, or caterpillar, is called an Orange dog because they are usually found feeding on members of the citrus family.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful images! I'll keep an eye out for butterflies come summer (and keep one of my cameras loaded with color transparency film).

Jama said...

The butterfly is so gorgeous!

toby said...

Great shots! How did you convince them to stay still?
:)

Lio Popov said...

I like the photos. Congratulations! Many hard is to photographing butterfly, but you did it. Greetings from Bulgaria.

jay said...

Beautiful sunny pictures! Makes a nice change from the snow outside!

Lovely sharp images too, and a very beautiful subject.

Randy Emmitt said...

Nice job on this one! I have never seen a giant puddling before.

Love sms said...

oh my god i think no one can make some thing like this instead of god... its really very beautiful thanks for sharing this with us..

Carol said...

They are one of my favorites. Many visit my yard. Must be the citrus trees.

www.wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com

Colleen said...

Great captures! Getting a good butterfly shot can be tricky. They're so flighty! hehe :)

Kaytabug said...

Oh! These are gorgeous!!!

Three Rivers, Michigan said...

Fascinating, the giants are moving north. I have not seen them here but perhaps we are too 'east'.
Beautiful photography.
Three Rivers Daily Photo

Ingalill said...

Beautiful images! Longing for summer :)

Trish ~ ♥ ~ said...

So beautiful, reminds me of the warmer spring days which I have been longing for.

Kim, USA said...

Oh these one is indeed great! Stunning color. Thanks for sharing!

MacroMonday:Guess what?

villager said...

I love swallowtails, but I haven't seen the giant in our gardens. Great photos!

Gena @ thinking aloud said...

Wonderful macros!!!!!
Gena @ thinking aloud

CameoRoze (Margaret) said...

Incredible.

Lovin' Macro Monday,
Cameo @-->-->---

Misty DawnS said...

I've photographed the Easter Swallowtail and the Black Swallowtail. This Giant Swallowtail is awesome, and your images of it are spectacular.