Eastern Tiger Swallowtail - Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Pterourus glaucus)

Butterfly: Wingspan: 2 - 4½ inches (7.9 - 14 cm). UPPER SURFACE (dorsal) Male yellow with prominent black stripes and black wing edges. Female either yellow or blackish with similar markings. Male hindwing has little or no blue scaling; female hindwing has extensive blue scaling. UNDER SURFACE (ventral) Striped, as on upper surface. Forewing outer band divided into uniform yellow spots. Hindwing with bands of orange spots and blue clouding. Body striped.

ID Tip: Background color may be yellow or black, but black stripes are visible, especially on under surface.

Egg: Green spheres; deposited singly, usually on the upper surface of a host plant leaf.

Caterpillar: Green. Thorax enlarged; has tiny blue dots and two small spots that appear to be eyes. Transverse yellow and black stripe below thorax sometimes visible. Head pinkish brown. Osmeterium orange. Immediately before pupation, color changes from green to brown. Young caterpillars brownish black with white “saddle” mark; resemble droppings.

Chrysalis: Mottled brown. Two short projections on head; one knobby projection at top of thorax. The overwintering stage.

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Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are among Alabama’s most familiar and easily recognized butterflies. The first brood emerges early in the spring, and at least one more follows. Female-seeking males are familiar sights as they soar up, over, and through trees in their search for mates. They are also frequent members of “puddle clubs," congregating to sip salts from roads and stream banks.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are host and habitat generalists, making use of plants from several families for caterpillar food. They are palatable to birds and other predators in each life stage, relying on camouflage and mimicry for protection. Eggs are leaf green. Young caterpillars resemble bird or lizard droppings. Older caterpillars look like tiny snakes. Dark form adult females are part of the Pipevine mimicry ring, closely resembling distasteful Pipevine Swallowtails. In Alabama, most females are black rather than yellow, although yellow forms occur. In dark females, the yellow background scales are replaced with charcoal or light black scales: however, “tiger stripes” can still be distinguished. Occasionally aberrations occur, and females may exhibit a peppering of both yellow and black.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is Alabama’s official state butterfly. Mallieve Breeding, Selma’s beloved “Butterfly Lady” led the effort to convince the state legislature to choose Eastern Tiger Swallowtail rather than the Monarch. She declared that Monarchs only passed through Alabama on their way to somewhere else, while Eastern Tigers choose to live here. They fly throughout the eastern United States and are on the wing spring, summer, and fall.

A dot on the county map indicates that there is at least one documented record of the species within that county. In some cases, a species may be common throughout the county, in others it may be found in only a specific habitat. The High Count information shows the highest numbers recorded for this species as well as when and where they occurred.

The sightings bar graphs depict the timing of flight(s) within each of three geographic regions. Place your cursor on a bar within the graph to see the number of individuals recorded during that period.

The abundance calendar displays the total number of individuals recorded within each week of the month. Both the graphs and the calendar are on based data collection that began in 2000.

The records analyzed here are only a beginning. As more data is collected, these maps and graphs will paint a more accurate picture of distribution and abundance in Alabama. Submit your sightings to albutterflyatlas@gmail.com.

Sightings in the following counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Jackson, Jefferson, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Washington, Wilcox, Winston

Sightings in the past 5 years
Sightings in the past 5 - 10 years
Sightings more than 10 years ago

High count(s):

151 - Winston - 4/9/2017
102 - Bibb - 3/15/2019
102 - Bibb - 3/17/2019

View county names by moving the mouse over a county or view a map with county names

Jan				Feb				Mar				Apr				May				Jun				Jul				Aug				Sep				Oct				Nov				Dec
1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4
			6	1		8	62	136	211	772	1303	811	717	454	544	309	282	140	201	183	166	105	243	195	404	262	553	441	540	639	619	347	263	144	106	24	5	4	1	1		1

Deciduous woodlands, forest edges, old fields, wooded swamps, gardens.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (*Pterourus glaucus*)

County

© Sara Bright

Deciduous woodland with Tulip Poplar

In addition to the hosts listed below, reports from nearby states list various wild cherries (Prunus spp.), various ashes (Fraxinus spp), and Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata).

The following have been documented in Alabama:

For more information about these plants, please visit the Alabama Plant Atlas using the links above.

Most Eastern Tiger Swallowtail hosts are tall trees, and your landscape may already contain mature specimens. However, females sometimes deposit eggs on saplings, so even small sites can include host plants for Eastern Tigers. Depending on your region, young Tulip Poplars, Sweet Bay Magnolias, or Black Cherries are good choices. Pick a location near nectar sources--research indicates that females are more likely to lay eggs on hosts near nectar. When the saplings over-grow the site, cut them back and let them resprout.

Swallowtails are avid nectarers and are especially attracted to native wildflowers such as milkweeds (Asclepias spp.), Joe Pye Weeds (Eutrochium spp.), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), blazing stars (Liatris spp.), and phloxes (Phlox spp.). Flowering trees and shrubs such as Chickasaw and American Plum (Prunus angustifolia and P. americana), Coastal Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) and native azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) are also important nectar sources.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Pterourus glaucus) Photos

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Photos with comments are indicated by a small, tan dot on the bottom right.