Alabama Butterfly Atlas

Spicebush Swallowtails add a splash of green to Alabama's swallowtail color palate.  Once known as Green-Clouded Swallowtails, males of the species were aptly named, but female hindwings are bluer, making them excellent mimics of their poisonous relative, the Pipevine Swallowtail. They even flutter their wings when nectaring, also reminiscent of Pipevine Swallowtails. Although Spicebush Swallowtails butterflies look a lot like Pipevine Swallowtails, they are most closely related to Tiger and Palamedes Swallowtails. This becomes obvious when comparing their larvae: the family resemblance is remarkable.

Spicebush Swallowtails have a long proboscis relative to their size; when nectaring, they can access long-tubed flowers like native azaleas in addition to shorter-tubed flowers like thistles. Young caterpillars resemble bird droppings. They cut and fold host leaf edges to form flap shelters, which they hide underneath. Older caterpillars are bright green with two large black and yellow eyespots on the thorax behind the true head, resembling small snakes or frogs. Shelters are constructed by spinning a silken mat on the center of a host plant leaf.  As the silk dries, it shrinks, causing the leaf to curl, surrounding the caterpillar. Immediately before pupating, the green caterpillar turns a startling, bright banana yellow. Broods from the spring and early summer typically form green chrysalides that are attached to green leaves or stems. This species spends the winter in the pupal stage, so as day lengths shorten, caterpillars are triggered to form brown chrysalides. They usually attach to something non-deciduous like bark or stone, which offers better stability and protection for winter months. 

Spicebush Swallowtails range across most of the eastern United States.  In Alabama, they occur in every county.