The Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes sometimes called the Laurel Swallowtail) is a North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the family Papilionidae.

Description

The upper side of the wings is blackish-brown with both wings having a yellow postmedian band and a yellow submarginal band. There is a yellow bar at the end of the fore wing cell. The underside of the wings is black with the fore wing having a yellow postmedian band and a yellow submarginal band. The hind wing has a few colored bands; the first being cream; the second, orange; the third, blue; and the fourth, orange. There is a yellow streak on the inner margin of the hind wing which runs parallel to the body. The wingspan ranges from 4½ to 5⅛ inches.

Habitat

This species may be found in habitats such as cypress swamplands, coastal swamplands, wet riparian forests, bay forests, and savannas.

Flight

The Palamedes Swallowtail is encountered from May to October in southeastern Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 and from March to December in more southern regions.

Life cycle

Males seek females by patrolling near forest edges and forest openings. In courtship, the male and female will fly about a foot apart, slowly flying together in unison. The male will then fly above and behind the female to disperse his pheromones and he will continue to do this until the female decides to mate with him. Females lay their pale greenish-yellow eggs

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

 singly on host plant leaves. The larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

 is green with two false eye spots on the thorax

Thorax (insect anatomy)

The thorax is the mid section of the insect body. It holds the head, legs, wings and abdomen. It is also called mesosoma in other arthropods....

. It has a few blue spots on the first abdominal segment to the eighth segment. It also lives in a leaf shelter. (The larva is almost identical to the caterpillar

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

 of the Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus) except the Spicebush Swallowtail larva has larger false eyes, larger blue spots, and has different host plant preferences.) The green chrysalis has a whitish lateral stripe edged with brown above and has two horns on the head. The chrysalis hibernates

Hibernation

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...

. The Palamedes Swallowtail has 2-3 brood

Offspring

In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...

s per year.

Host plants

Here is a list of host plants used by the Palamedes Swallowtail:

• Red Bay, Persea borbonia
  Persea borbonia
  Persea borbonia has a variety of common names, among them are redbay, scrubbay, shorebay and swampbay. It is related to Persea americana or the avocado tree. It is an evergreen tree that is native to North America, north of Mexico.-Description:...
  
  
• Swamp Bay, Persea palustris
  Persea palustris
  Persea palustris, commonly known as the swampbay, is a tree native to eastern North America, from Texas eastwards to Florida and then extending north to Delaware, mostly on the Gulf Coastal Plain and Atlantic Coastal Plain but extending into the Piedmont somewhat. Its range also includes the...
  
  
• White SassafrasSassafras albidum
  Sassafras albidum
  Sassafras albidum is a species of Sassafras native to eastern North America, from southern Maine and southern Ontario west to Iowa, and south to central Florida and eastern Texas. It occurs throughout the eastern deciduous forest habitat type, at altitudes of sea level up to 1,500 m...
  
  

External links

• palamedes swallowtail on the UF / IFAS
  Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
  The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
  
  Featured Creatures Web site