What should I plant for swallowtails?  This often-asked question is often answered with, “Fennel, dill, and parsley”.  But there are other species of swallowtails and most use different plants.

Note: not all species are found in every state.  Planting a host plant for a species that does not fly in your state will not make them appear and lay eggs.  We should all plant host plants for species that are found in our area.

(These are only some of the plants that these species use as host plants.  There are many others that we did not list.)

Spicebush Swallowtail and Palamedes Swallowtail:

Red Bay Persea borbonia
Swamp Bay Persea humilis
Silk Bay Persea palustris
Sassafrass Sassafras albidum
Spicebush Lindera benzion
Camphor tree (invasive non-native) Cinnamomum camphora

Zebra Swallowtail:

Pawpaw Asimina spp.

Gold Rim Swallowtail (also called Polydamas Swallowtail):

Important note: Buy pipevine plants according to their botanical names, not their common names.  Many species of pipevine have the same common name. Some pipevine species are deadly to Gold Rim Swallowtail caterpillars.

(Click on this sentence for a more complete list.)

Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia trilobata
White-veined Pipevine – Aristolochia fimbriata
Fragrant Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia pandurata synonym of Aristolochia odoratissima
Brazilian Dutchman’s Pipe or Giant Pelican Flower – Aristolochia gigantea
Calico Vine – Aristolochia littoralis (was A. elegans)
Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia trilobata
Fragrant Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia pandurata (was Aristolochia odoratissima)
Indian Birthwort – Aristolochia tagala

Pipevine Swallowtail:

Important note: Buy pipevine plants according to their botanical names, not their common names.  Many species of pipevine have the same common name. Some pipevine species are deadly to Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars.

(Click on this sentence for a more complete list.)

Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia trilobata
White-veined Pipevine – Aristolochia fimbriata
Fragrant Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia pandurata synonym of Aristolochia odoratissima
Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia macrophylla
Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia trilobata
Fragrant Dutchman’s Pipe – Aristolochia pandurata (was Aristolochia odoratissima)
Virginia Snakeroot – Aristolochia serpentaria
White-veined Pipevine – Aristolochia fimbriata
Woolly Pipevine – Aristolochia tomentosa
Birthwort – Aristolochia clematitis

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail:

Tulip Poplar Liriodendron tulipifera
Hop Tree Ptelea trifoliata
Black Cherry Prunus serotina
Sweet Bay Magnolia virginiana

Giant Swallowtail:

Citrus trees Citrus spp.
Hop Tree Ptelea trifoliata
Rue Ruta graveolens
Prickly Ash Zanthoxylum americanumn
Hercules’ Club Zanthoxymum clava-herculis

Black Swallowtail and Anise Swallowtail:

(Click on this sentence for a more complete list.)

Parsley Petroselinum spp. 
Fennel Foeniculum vulgare
Dill Anethum graveolens
Queen Annes’ Lace Daucus Carota
Carrots Daucus carota
Rue Ruta graveolens

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail

Aspen Populus spp.
Black Cherry Prunus serotina
Birch Betula spp.

Ornythion Swallowtail – Papilio ornythion

Citrus trees Citrus spp.

Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio appalachinensis

Black Cherry Prunus serotina

Western Tiger Swallowtail – Papilio rutulus

Willows Salix spp.
Wild Cherry Prunus spp.
Ash Fraxinus spp.
Aspen Populus spp.

Old World Swallowtail – Papilio machaon

Sagebrush Artemisia spp.
Wild Tarragon Artemisia dracunculus
Arctic Wormwood Artemisia senjavinensis

Indra Swallowtail – Papilio indra

Herbs in the parsley family Apiaceae spp.

Pale Swallowtail – Papilio eurymedon

Cherry Prunus emarginata
Ash Fraxinus spp.
Coffee-berry Rhamnus californica

Two-tailed Swallowtail – Papilio multicaudata

Chokecherry Prunus spp.
Hop Tree Ptelea spp.
Ash Fraxinus spp.

How does a chrysalis hold on to the silk pad so tightly?  This greatly magnified view tells the story. Tiny hooks at the tip of the cremaster (the black ‘stem’ on a Monarch chrysalis) tangle tightly into the silk pad.  The twisting dance that a chrysalis does when it is through pupating is to work these tiny hooks into as many of the silk loops as possible.

A Monarch chrysalis cremaster is so tiny that we can’t see the tiny hooks that hold the chrysalis to its silk button.  These are scanning electron microscope images, taken of some of our Monarch chrysalises, by Illustra Media.

Shady Oak Butterfly Farm shipped empty chrysalis shells to Lad Allen in California for their movie, ‘Metamorphosis’.

We’re still slowly adding the missing photos to pages here on our educational website.  If you read a page and want the photos added right away, send an email to edith@buyabutterfly.com and I’ll try to get it done right then.

Before we all enter into the 2018 butterfly season, let’s look at something that can help decrease OE and disease occurrence when we feed caterpillars indoors.

Many disease pathogens as well as OE spores are on leaves.  When a caterpillar eats a leaf, it ingests the pathogen.  At that point, the caterpillar is often infected with a crippling or fatal disease.

One step to preventing many infections is simple.  Disinfect the leaves before you feed them to your caterpillars.

How to disinfect leaves?  Check it out here. 

According to entomologists, butterflies do not feel pain.  Many of us keep our doubts simply because we see them react to touch.  They do feel!  But do they feel PAIN?

Do caterpillars writhe in pain response to insecticides?  They writhe, that is for sure. But why? Many insecticides act in a way that when a caterpillar is exposed to those insecticides, they will writhe.  They have no choice.  It affects neurotransmitters.

We’ve watched butterflies with missing abdomens (eaten by mice at night) fly and drink.  Other than falling on their faces when they land, due to the imbalance of weight, they ate totally normal.  Males with abdomens try to pair with females without abdomens.   (We added Grandma Kitty to the farm staff and she keeps mice from eating butterflies.  Go Grandma Kitty!)

Although we are not scientists that do this type of research, we have researched the topic and talked with lepidopterists, entomologists, pathologists, and other scientists about this topic.

After careful observation and discussion, we personally believe that they do not feel pain.  Many people disagree and we’re thankful that people do disagree.  It’s when we don’t agree that more research is initiated.  It is then that scientists communicate more.

Experiencing surgery while totally awake helped convince me.

Click here to read more about this topic.

Finally, pages are in order in the drop down menus.  I think.  If you see one obviously out of place, please let me know.

Now we’re working to insert photos into pages again.  As we do so, we’ll update all the information in the page.  THAT will take a lot of time.  We have 208 pages, not counting the divider A-Z pages (18 of them) and the duplicates that must be deleted.

Again, thank you for your patience.