Midsummer tiger swallowtail
Papilio solstitius
Name means: “solstice, because it flies around midsummer”
The midsummer tiger swallowtail is a tiger swallowtail butterfly from North America. Tiger swallowtails are big butterflies with tails on their back wings. This one flies in the middle of summer, around the longest day of the year.
Lives in
The northeastern United States and southern Ontario in Canada
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like other butterflies, the adult drinks nectar from flowers.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Midsummer tiger swallowtail about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its name comes from the Latin word for solstice, because it flies around the longest day of the year.
2
It is a close cousin of the eastern tiger swallowtail and the Canadian tiger swallowtail.
3
It lives only in the northeastern United States and southern Ontario.
you asked
Most asked questions about Midsummer tiger swallowtail
?Why is it called the midsummer tiger swallowtail?
It flies in the middle of summer, near the longest day of the year.
?Where does the midsummer tiger swallowtail live?
In the northeastern United States and southern Ontario, Canada.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Papilio solstitius
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Papilio solstitius (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 Trix Niernberger. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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