Papilio troilus
Papilio troilus
Papilio troilus is a butterfly of the family of Swallowtail Butterfly ( Papilionidae ).
Features
The moths reach a wingspan of 75 to 100 millimeters. The top of their front wing is predominantly black in color and is wearing bright - yellow spots along the outer edge. The hind wings have a bluish, in the males of a blue- green glow in the females. You have on the top along the outer edge of a series of bright yellowish to light blue half-moon spots. At the front edge there is a red spot, another may be in the interior angle. The underside of the forewing is similar colored like the top, but has near the center of another row pale yellowish spots. The hind wings have in the back half, two rows of red-orange spots, one across the wing half, one along the outer edge. The patches are partially edged bright yellow. Between the rows of spot the wings shimmering bluish.
Occurrence
The animals come in eastern North America from southern Canada to Florida before. West extends their range up to Oklahoma and central Texas. Occasionally it can be watched in North Dakota, Colorado and Cuba. They live in deciduous forests, fields and meadows, wooded swamps, but also in parks and gardens. They are not endangered.
Way of life
The adults suck nectar of Lonicera japonica, Spring herbs (Impatiens ), thistles, milkweed ( Asclepias ), azaleas, Apocynum, lantana ( Lantana ), mimosa ( Mimosa ) and Clethra alnifolia. The males fly about in search of females. These lay their eggs singly on the underside of the leaves of the caterpillar food plants. The nocturnal caterpillars live hidden in a rolled-up by silk sheet.
Flight Times
The animals fly in the south in several generations per year from March to December, in the north in two generations of April to October.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed mainly on Lindera benzoin and sassafras ( Sassafras albidum ). Occasionally, they are also found in Zanthoxylum americanum and tulip tree ( Liriodendron tulipifera ), swamp magnolia (Magnolia virginiana), camphor ( Cinnamomum camphora ) and Persea borbonia.