northeast-flora-and-fauna

If you didn't believe yesterday's Silver-spotted Skipper that Wild Bergamot has delicious nectar, then maybe you'll believe this Spicebush Swallowtail . I've talked about identifying these butterflies before; you can just about see the orange spots interruption on the left wing of this guy. Note that their name, Spicebush, has nothing to do with the flowers from which they'll drink nectar; most of the time, nectar is nectar. And although the flower's architecture and color could influence the pollinators it attracts, most pollinators (including the Spicebush Swallowtail) will go to an assortment of flowers. Instead, plant names in butterflies/moths are more likely to reflect the host plants they feed on as caterpillars. As caterpillars, these guys feed on spicebush and sassafras , 2 plants in the laurel family . Note that using multiple host plants from the same family is a very common theme among butterflies/moths: Monarchs like milkweeds, sulphurs generally...

Here's a Spicebush Swallowtail that was living near my apartment. This is one of our black swallowtail butterflies that are not the Black Swallowtail . Here's a good article on distinguishing our most common  swallowtails. If you don't remember all of that, don't worry. I suspect that most of these guys would be flattered if you merely recognize them as swallowtail butterflies . The Spicebush Swallowtail is actually easier to identify with the wings up. There you'll see a row of orange spots interrupted by a blue swoosh mark; no other similar-looking butterfly has that blue swoosh. From this angle, I'd look at the row of yellow spots at the edge of the wing. Black Swallowtails would have 2 rows. If this were a dark morph Eastern Tiger Swallowtail , even this row of spots would be virtually missing. And a Pipevine Swallowtail wouldn't have those spots at all. The host plant for their caterpillars is - wait for it - the Spicebush . Sometimes these names actu...