Did you know....
By Angela
@cyberrat (204)
Portsmouth, Ohio
July 31, 2016 2:46pm CST
Not all yellow eastern tiger swallowtails are actually yellow. I just learned this last year. And what I had always tough was a yard full of black swallowtails were actually female black morph yellow tiger swallowtails. That explains why I don't get as many caterpillars on my parsley and fennel as I though I should be getting. Here is one hanging out on my very bug eaten coneflowers since I don't use pesticides that means the bad bugs run just as wild in the garden as the good ones. If you look close you can see the black striping under the wing.
6 people like this
5 responses
@rebelann (114145)
• El Paso, Texas
2 Aug 16
WOW, that is an awesome photo. We don't get butterflies like that around here very often although some of my friends who have the back yards that are surrounded with 4 foot rock walls tend to have more flowers than I do and have told me they get butterflies but they aren't into photography so I've never seen them.
If I ever win the PCH lottery I'm building a tall rock wall around my home.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21849)
• Canada
1 Aug 16
I didn't know. We see the yellow and black all summer while camping. Not sure I've see the all balck one but will be looking for it now.
1 person likes this
@JolietJake (50190)
•
31 Jul 16
That actually looks more like a Spicebush Swallowtail as shown here, but I am not saying you are wrong about the females...there are different color morphs of them, which I didn't know about until you wrote this.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Eastern tiger swallowtail Male Female Conservation status Secure (NatureServe)[1] Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Pap
@JolietJake (50190)
•
31 Jul 16
@cyberrat That is the photo you originally posted with this discussion...please...you have changed it now, I am not blind 
@cyberrat (204)
• Portsmouth, Ohio
31 Jul 16
@JolietJake here is a shot of her with her wings open the blue clearly proves female tiger
1 person likes this
@acelawrites (19272)
• Philippines
31 Jul 16
So there are lots of butterflies in your place this summer? Such a nice view!
@JohnRoberts (109845)
• Los Angeles, California
31 Jul 16
Great shot. I wish there were more variety of butterflies here.
