#3071 · 🦋 butterflies & moths

Black Swallowtail

Papilio polyxenes

LCleast concern 🦋 Butterflies & moths 📍 outside Europe

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

1. © Heather Pickard · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © bevlynn99 · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Owen J. · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © velmamher · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. © Daniel Aguilar Bazán · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © Claire O'Neill · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Anna · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © Susan Elliott · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. © Daniel Aguilar Bazán · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. © hobiecat · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Papilio polyxenes , the ( eastern ) black swallowtail , American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail , is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae , occurs in the Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon , rather than P. polyxenes . : /pəˈlɪksɨnə/; Greek: Πολυξένη), who was the youngest daughter...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 148,497iNaturalist 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.
148,497 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775 (251 years ago).