Swallow tail butterflies are one among the 15000 to 20000 species of butterflies on the earth.
Spicebush Swallow tails are long lived large butterfly with brown or blackish body having shiny blue
or green wings.They are also known as Green clouded butterfly and mostly found in North America .
Bright orange spots on the upper surface of the hind wing helps to identify spicebush swallowtail
butterfly from other swallow tails.The eggs are laid singly and the caterpillars mainly feed on
Spicebush or Sassafras leaves. Spicebush is a understory plant with spicy smell and red berry
fruits.White tail deer eat the twig of these plant and swallowtail caterpillars feed on the leaves.
Sassafras, the other host plant of spicebush caterpillar is a deciduous tree important to wild life. The
flowers of Sassafras are greenish yellow and grow in clusters. Sassafras tree has analgesic and
antiseptic properties. It gives off an aromatic smell of root beer and licorice and is used in perfumery.
Sassafras is unique with its three distinct leaf patterns ( three-lobed, mitten-
same tree. Fruits are eaten by birds and leaves are browsed by woodchuck and cotton tails. Deer and
rabbits feed on the twigs while the stems are munched by beavers, black bears and Squirrels .
The caterpillar of spicebush butterfly is a natural mimicry artist. They keep on intimidating their
potential predators throughout their larva and pupa stages. Their earlier instar resembles a large bird
poop/ bird dropping in brown ,green or bronze color with a white tinge . Instar is the developmental
stage of arthropods such as insects between each moult until sexual maturity is reached.( no photo )
Spicebush caterpillar is a sheep in wolfs clothing. They adopt protective or defensive mimicry
( like Batesian mimicry) on contrary to aggressive mimicry. Here a harmless species has evolved
to imitate the warning signals of a harmful species directed at a common predator. Spicebush
swallow tail caterpillar was also characterized as 'Caterpie' the serpent in Pokémon series .
These caterpillars make their own curled leaf shelters by spinning the silk produced from their body.
They feed at night and rest during daytime. Fifth instar stage of this caterpillar is the most fascinating
stage in its entire life cycle .In this phase they develop two large staring eye like spots and
camouflage as a small snake to scare the predator who want to dine them .
underneath the body. When disturbed they rear upon its hind leg and sways its head tucked under
the body to make appear the eyespot even more larger than they really are. They also shoot out a
foul smelling liquid and smear it on the enemy from its forked 'Y' gland .
They turn yellow when they mature and spins a silk harness to secure itself to a stem. The Pupa or
Chrysalis is the last stage in this beautiful life cycle before it emerge out as a beautiful butterfly.
This stage can last for two to three weeks. In this stage they mimic as a leaf and adopt green ,
yellow or brown color depending on the color of the surrounding area .
With a wingspan of 3 to 4 inches, the emerging butterfly must rest for a few hours to allow its body
to dry and harden before it can take its first flight .The entire development process of a spicebush
butterfly from egg to adult may take an entire month. Many people enjoy raising these cute butterfly.
Spicebush swallowtails is one among the largest butterflies in the world. Like humming birds, they
flutter their wings while feeding and unlike many other butterflies they take lower flights close to
ground. From 1991 they are considered as the state butterfly of Mississippi ( nick named as The
Magnolia State or The Hospitality State) of United States.
Location: Jefferson City
Missouri
Nice dr
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