Butterflies - Tiger Swallowtail

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is the largest, and I think the most beautiful, of our southern Swallowtails. Adults are yellow with black tiger stripes. This butterfly is common along streams and in forests. It also visits gardens readily.

Males can be seen "puddling" around mud holes or the edges of streams.

These butterflies will fly high in the air. They fly from spring to fall. Where we live, in the deep south, we seem them all through the year, except when we have freezing weather.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail inhabits Louisiana. There is also a western Tiger Swallowtail, that is marked a little differently than the Eastern.

This page has information about and pictures of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and its larval food and nectar plants. I hope this page will help anyone who enjoys gardening and would like to attract Tiger Swallowtails and other butterflies to their yard.

Female Tiger Swallowtail butterflies have more blue on their hind wings than their male counterparts.

They also come in 2 colors, the regular yellow and a dark brown, almost black phase. It is thought that the dark phase is a protective adaptation that mimics the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail. The dark phase is more common in the south, where we ,and in areas that have populations of Pipevine Swallowtails, which we do.

Many of the larval food plants of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail are native trees. The list includes:

• Tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera
• Wild Cherries, Prunus spp.
• Willows, Salix spp.
• Birches, Betula spp.
• Ashes, Fraxinus spp.
• Cottonwood, Populus spp.
• Sweet Bay Magnolia, Magnolia virginiana

Caterpillars first look like bird droppings, but as they grow, they turn green and develop large eyespots and a fearsome large head end, which helps protect them from predators.

There are many nectar plants that Tiger Swallowtails and other butterflies use. Here is a list of some Eastern Swallowtail favorites.

• Azaleas, Rhododendron spp.
• Bottlebrush, Callistemon spp.
• Butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa
• Butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii
• Button Bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis
• Pickerel Weed, Pontederia cordata
• Purple coneflower, Echinacea purpurea
• Eupatoriums, Eupatorium spp.
• Blazing Stars, Liatris spp.
• Elephant Garlic, Allium spp.
• Oregano, Origanum vulgare
• Ironweeds, Vernonia spp.
• Mexican Sunflower, Tithonia spp.
• Zinnias, Zinnia spp.

For more information about gardening to attract Tiger Swallowtail and other butterflies, consult one of these great books on the subject.

You'll find plant lists for your area and information about the life of butterflies, as well as landscaping ideas and tips.

If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, you will need to plant both larval food and nectar plants. Each kind of butterfly uses a certain type of food plant on which to lay its eggs.

The butterfly guides below will give you a list of the larval plants which each type of butterfly requires.

The caterpillar guide above will help you identify the larval stage of most butterflies and moths in North America, so you'll know what those caterpillars that are eating your plants will turn out to be.