The western tiger swallowtail, Papilio r
utulus, is different from the giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) in the time it spends in relatively stillness while feeding or perched o
n a flower. I was able to get so close to this one, feeding on the lantana, that I could hear and appreciate the lush swoosh of its wings as it waved them--repeatedly--past the foliage and flowers while feeding.
5 comments:
Nice shots! And is it just me, or are these guys actually bigger than the "giants"?
Wow, stunning photos. Perhaps fair entries for next year?
I really appreciate your first photo, which shows what it would be like to be small enough to be in the shade of a beautiful butterfly wing ABOVE me!
A childhood dream!
Cynthia
As I have said before, everyone loves a butterfly. It sounds sappy to say but what a wonderful place our earth is that it produces butterflies.
Bugguide has the following information on wingspan:
Western tiger 90--110mm
Giant 83--140mm
If that is correct, it would be fairly common to see P. rutulus larger than P. cresphontes.
We don't have too many different kinds of butterflies up here in western Oregon (at least that I've seen), but this one we have in abundance.
I guess if we had to get stuck with one, tiger swallowtails aren't a bad choice!
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