Frogs, monkeys, peacock, and crow, these are the animals and birds we see nearby us everyday. These animals have special connections with human, especially children. Without these our childhood was nothing. These beautiful creation of God not only made our childhood beautiful but also has special attraction towards these.
Even today we see these animals and birds around us. Along with this another small insect that made our childhood beautiful is butterfly.
Today I am going to tell about a species of these butterfly, that is Black butterfly or black swallowtail.
The Black Swallowtail is a species of butterfly. It is also called the American Swallowtail or Parsnip Swallowtail. It is found throughout much of North America.
The Black Swallowtail has a wingspan of 6.7 to 10 cm. The upper side of the male’s wings is black. There are two rows of yellow spots along the edges of both wings. There is a small area of blue on the bottom wing between the two rows of yellow spots. On the bottom edge of the bottom wing, there is a red spot with a small black dot in the centre. The upper side of the female’s wings is black. There are two rows of light yellow spots along the edges of both wings. The female also has the same red and black spot on the bottom wing as the male. The underside of the wings is the same in both sexes.
The Black Swallowtail ranges from Southern Canada south to Florida and Costa Rica west to the Rocky Mountains and eastern Arizona south to Mexico and Peru.
The Black Swallowtail likes open habitats. It is found from sea level to high mountains. It is found in fields, meadows, deserts, marshes, near lakes and streams, farms, lawns, near cities, near roads, and gardens. The Black Swallowtail uses carrot plants as host plants.
The Black Swallowtail is seen from May to June in Canada. It is seen from June to August in the Colorado Mountains. In the eastern part of its range, it is seen from April to October and from February to October in Florida. In Arizona, it is seen from February to November.
The Black Swallowtail flies very fast. Its flight is much quicker than other swallowtails. The Black Swallowtail flies closer to the ground than other swallowtails do.
The male forms a territory. The territory is usually on the top of a hill. The male will sit on high branches or other vegetation on the hill. He will defend his territory from other male Black Swallowtails. If other males come too close, he will chase them away. The female will fly to the top of the hill to look for a mate. A successful courtship lasts for about 40 seconds. An unsuccessful one lasts for about 100 seconds. Mating lasts for about 45 minutes. Females that do not want to mate will try to escape from males by flying high in the air and then quickly flying downward.
Female Black Swallowtails fly close to the ground to look for host plants. Females lay one egg per host plant. The eggs are laid on the leaves and flowers. The egg is yellow. It later forms a red ring around the center. It will also form a red top. It will turn dark grey just before hatching. It takes about 10 days to hatch. In a lab test, females laid a total of about 200 to 430 eggs. They laid about 35 to 50 each day.