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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Papilio glaucus

Photo by Aarongunnar
Published on Project Noah
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44.8914, -92.5921

Field Notes

Habitat:

Kinnickinnic River Public Fishing Land, NE of River Falls, WI

Species ID Suggestions

spicebush swallowtail

(Papilio troilus)

Comments (7)

Aaron, That is an awesome link. I totally agree with your ID, now. If I knew how to update Wikipedia, I think that wisconsinbutterflies.org and pictures should be added. I've gone round and around on this species ID and its "cousins." Thanks for the info.
it is a female E. Tiger Swallowtail. They occasionally are colored like this. The spicebush swallowtail is very rarely seen in Wisconsin. If you look closely, you can see the faint tiger stripes on the upper wings. You can check it out at this link: http://wisconsinbutterflies.org/butterfly/species/5-eastern-tiger-swallowtail
This may actually be a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail in the dark phase. Here is a wikipedia link - if you scroll down there is a split photo showing the difference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_glaucus
Here is the discussion. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/6839219 Your picture is showing the top of the wings, and the spotting above is showing the bottom side of the wings.
I suggest this is a Spicebush Swallowtail, which is a relative of the Eastern tiger swallowtail. the blue on the back is why I'm suggesting this. We had a long discussion on the differences in the two flowers...but I'm looking for the spotting the discussion thread was on. It was not my spotting, so I'm searching. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Photographed
PublishedAugust 7, 2011

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