September 7th, 2012. After we stopped at the Scull Shoals
Experimental Forest, we went on down to Hancock County. We spotted a Giant
Swallowtail feeding on wildflowers – one of the eupatorium species – on an
embankment above the road. I’ve seen a couple of Giant Swallowtails fly past
our house but not stop so that I could get photographs. So I was excited when I
saw this one. Unfortunately this butterfly was not over-cooperative and kept a
distance from us. But, we managed to get a few photographs. And we know one
place to look next year.
Where it spent most of the time we
were watching. It was way too large to settle on the flowers so it had to
flutter its wings continuously to stay in place
Closer views that show both the
dorsal and ventral wing patterns.
The Giant Swallowtail (Papilio
cresphontes) is the largest of the swallowtails. It’s resident in Georgia
although there are documented sightings from only a few counties. It may be
seen between early April and late October.
Click
on an image to view a closer image
Identification
resources:
- Butterflies
and Moths of North America: Papilio cresphontes (Giant Swallowtail)
Distribution:
- Butterflies
and Moths of North America: Papilio cresphontes (Giant Swallowtail)
No comments:
Post a Comment