Spicebush swallowtail
The spicebush swallowtail is a big black butterfly with cream spots along the edges of its wings. On its back wings it has a shiny half-moon patch, blue-green on the males and bright blue on the females. It flies low and fast through shady woods.
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Fun facts
It keeps fluttering its wings even while it is drinking from a flower.
Unlike many other swallowtails, it flies low to the ground instead of high up.
Its caterpillars are very fussy. They only eat plants from the laurel family and would rather starve than eat anything else.
Females like open fields, while males are more often found near swamps.
It does not like it too hot or too cold, and does poorly above 36 degrees or below 14 degrees.
Most asked questions about Spicebush swallowtail
?How big is a spicebush swallowtail?
Its wings are about 7.5 to 10 centimetres across.
?What does the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar eat?
Mostly leaves of spicebush and sassafras, which are in the laurel family.
?How can you tell a male from a female?
The male has a blue-green patch on his back wings, and the female has a bright blue one.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Papilio troilus
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Green-clouded butterfly
Where the facts come from
- Papilio troilus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Greg Hume. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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