Black Swallowtail

At the tail end of April I saw my first Black Swallowtail - the New Jersey state butterfly [1] - of the season. In my area they're neither rare nor common, maybe like friends you run into a few times a year. As I've mentioned before, the Black Swallowtail isn't the only swallowtail butterfly that's black, but it might be the blackest. Though the Black Swallowtail is usually a little smaller than black morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and Spicebush Swallowtails, the rich black color that sets off its yellow spots frequently has me suspicious that I'm seeing a Black Swallowtail even before I get a close look at it. (I could theoretically encounter various other swallowtail butterflies too, though it doesn't happen much.)

April 30, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 197665584, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] It's also the state butterfly of Oklahoma. Oklahoma and New Jersey probably don't share a lot in common, but taste in butterflies is apparently something they share.

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