I have never seen a Black Swallowtail before it landed on one of my Zinnias in my backyard yesterday. I happened to see it out of the corner of my eye so I ran and got my camera and clicked away. He was just beautiful.
The Black Swallowtail is a large butterfly with its wingspan up to 3.5″. It is mostly black with iridescent blue on its hindwings and rows of yellow with an orange eyespot. You can in the 2 photographs how different it looks with its wings open and closed.
So pretty, don’t you think?
This black swallowtail butterfly is a female. The females have a lot of blue on their lower wings, the males have more pronounced yellow spots. Once you see them both you’ll realize how easy it is to tell them apart. They lay their eggs on anything in the carrot family including dill, fennel, parsley, and queen Anne lace. They over winter in their chrysalides and start the cycle over. They are very easy to raise at home too.