Stats

Lifespan: A few weeks
Size: Medium
Diet: Herbivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Flight
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Warning Colors
Status: Common

About

A wide-ranging black-and-yellow swallowtail whose caterpillars feed on anise, fennel, and other plants in the carrot family, storing bitter compounds that make them distasteful to birds. Adults patrol hilltops and mountain peaks looking for mates, a behavior called hilltopping.

Life cycle

1.
egg
A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
2.
caterpillar
A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
3.
chrysalis
A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
4.
butterfly
A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species: Papilio zelicaon