Photo#505874 | |  | Copyright © 2011 John Klymko | |
Papilio - Papilio brevicauda Rang 8 St.Joseph, Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada June 2, 2010
Hi Martin,
You discovered the Maritime’s first inland population of Short-tailed Swallowtail (P. brevicauda)! It was the specimen identified as P. polyxenes you submitted June 2 from 47.5470, -68.3450. I’ve attached photos of the spread specimen. You also sent photos of a second individual from that day, perhaps you kept it as a specimen.
There are inland populations from the Gaspe, so it is not too surprising to find an inland colony in NB, however it is certainly a rare occurrence. What is also interesting is its proximity to Maine. Finding a colony across the border would represent a new country record! There is a record in Butterflies of Canada from near Kedgwick. I contacted Peter Hall about that record, he told me it was an error, the record is really from Bathurst.
If you can get back to that location this year it would be great to get some more observations from the site. It would be great to know details on the habitat and the host plant (the likely host plant is Common Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum)). It would also be good to get an estimate on the size of the colony.
Cheers,
John
John Klymko, MSc
Zoologist
Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre
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Contributed by Martin Turgeon on 15 April, 2011 - 6:46pm Last updated 24 June, 2014 - 1:16pm |