Another giant swallowtail butterfly emerged . . . I love how vastly different the underneath colors of this butterfly is from the top.
Another . . .
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Category Archives: Giant Swallowtail
A Halloween beauty
A giant swallowtail emerged today in our butterfly house. I had a few caterpillars that rode out Hurricane Milton in an enclosure in the garage for the day before I transported them back into the big butterfly house once the storm passed. A few days after putting them in the butterfly house, they created their chrysalis.
There are no other words to describe them than magnificent. The pure size of them is incredible.
Sheltered
I had three giant swallowtail caterpillars that I moved from my large butterfly house, which is located on my porch, to a smaller enclosure, to ride out Hurricane Milton safe in the garage.
Today, they were moved back to the larger butterfly house. They are on the move, ready to find that spot to make their chrysalis.
Graceful
Graceful comes to mind when I see the giant swallowtail glide through the garden. This butterfly grabbed my attention immediately and held it as it fluttered throughout the garden, landing on my wild lime to deposit eggs, as well as nectar from my red penta flower.
The giant swallowtail’s forewing spans 11.7 to 17.5 cm for males and a span of 13.5 to 18.8 cm for females. The demand your attention when they flutter in the garden, just for the pure size of them.
The females tend to lay single eggs, cream to brown, on the upper surface of leaves – citrus plants – that are 1 to 1.5 mm in size. The larval, caterpillars, will go through five instars (stages) and they mainly eat at night.
Magnificently beautiful
The giant swallowtail butterfly always makes me stare in awe. The size of these magnificent butterflies is truly breathtaking. I had four butterflies emerge this week and it was so neat to release them into the garden.
The wild lime tree, one of its many host plants, is growing a ton with all of the Southwest Florida rain, providing plenty of food for the caterpillars – the hope is there will soon be more eggs.
The giant swallowtails forewing span from 11.7 to 17.5 cm for males and 13.5 to 18.8 cm for females. This butterfly can be found throughout America from New England to Florida and the Caribbean, as well as Mexico and South America.
