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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Butterflies and Skippers (Papilionoidea) » Swallowtails, Parnassians (Papilionidae) » Papilioninae » Fluted Swallowtails (Papilionini) » Papilio » Black Swallowtail - Hodges#4159 (Papilio polyxenes) » Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes asterius)
Photo#150540
Papilio polyxenes
Copyright © 2007 Patrick Chilton

Papilio polyxenes
Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, USA
September 26, 2007
Size: 1-1/2 inches
About twenty of these guys simply appeared out of nowhere one afternoon on our parsley plant on the back deck and ate the entire plant (which was quite huge and healthy) in about 36 hours! After they finished, they vanished and I haven't seen them since.

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Papilio polyxenes Papilio polyxenes
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Contributed by Patrick Chilton on 6 October, 2007 - 7:04pm
Last updated 8 July, 2009 - 5:50pm

Moved
Moved from Black Swallowtail.
… David J. Ferguson, 8 July, 2009 - 5:50pm login or register to post comments

Apparently that's typical of this species
- the female always lays way more eggs than the hostplant can sustain. I know I'm not the only BugGuide contributor who has rushed to the store/nursery for more parsley when I noticed a similar situation in my yard. : )
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 7 October, 2007 - 1:38pm login or register to post comments

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