I was beyond excited to see that my second eastern black swallowtail, also known as black swallowtail, American swallowtail, parsnip swallowtail parsley swallowtail, hatched today. The chrysalis has been in the butterfly house since the end of June. These butterflies are absolutely stunning.

The wing span ranges from 6.9 to 8.4 centimeters with the female being larger. The two rows of yellow spots are brighter in males, with the female having smaller and lighter yellow rows.

It did not stick around, flew right away, high and far to a nearby tree.

For more information and photographs of the various caterpillar instar stages, check out https://bit.ly/3BcFG7r