#3077 · 🦋 butterflies & moths

Pipevine Swallowtail

Battus philenor

LCleast concern 🦋 Butterflies & moths 📍 outside Europe

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

Battus philenor , the pipevine swallowtail or blue swallowtail , is a swallowtail butterfly found in North America and Central America. This butterfly is black with iridescent-blue hindwings. They are found in many different habitats, but are most commonly found in forests. Caterpillars are often black or red, and feed on compatible plants of the genus Aristolochia . They are known for sequestering acids from the plants they feed on in order to defend themselves from predators by being...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 99,801iNaturalist observations
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
99,801 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named in 1771 (255 years ago).