The Short-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio brevicauda) is a North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 in the family Papilionidae.

Description

The Short-tailed Swallowtail is very similar to the male Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) but has shorter tails, and the fore wing tip is rounder. The yellow bands of spots on the upper side of the wings are often more orange (except in the western part of its range).

Habitat

This butterfly may be found in habitats such as woodlands, open grassy hills, and occasionally, gardens.

Life cycle

Males will seek females by awaiting them on hilltops. Females lay their egg

Egg (biology)

An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

s singly on host plant leaves. The eggs are cream and later obtain a reddish-brown ring. The pale green to creamish-green larva

Caterpillar

Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...

 has black bands between segments with yellow spots on the black bands (these spots are orange in Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

). The chrysalis is either green or black-brown. The chrysalis hibernates

Hibernation

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...

. The Short-tailed Swallowtail has 1 brood

Offspring

In biology, offspring is the product of reproduction, of a new organism produced by one or more parents.Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way...

 per year, sometimes having a second partial brood.

Host plants

Here is a list of host plants used by the Short-tailed Swallowtail:

• Angelica atropurpurea
  Angelica atropurpurea
  Angelica atropurpurea is a species of plant that can be found in moist and swampy woodlands, mostly by riverbanks. The plant grows to 6 feet tall with an erect branching stem that is purple. The stem is smooth, hollow, and sturdy. The leaves are divided into three parts, each with its own petiole....
  
  
• Seacoast Angelica, Angelica lucida
  Angelica lucida
  Angelica lucida is a species of angelica known by the common names seacoast angelica and sea-watch. It is also one of many species in the celery family which are casually called wild celery. This plant is generally similar in appearance to other angelicas, with tall, dense umbels of yellowish-white...
  
  
• Celery, Apium graveolens
• Chinese Hemlock-Parsley, Conioselinum chinense
• Queen Anne's Lace, Daucus carota ssp. sativus
• Cow Parsnip, Heracleum lanatum
• Scotch Lovage, Ligusticum scothicum
• Parsnip, Pastinaca sativa
• Parsley, Petroselinum crispum

External links

• Short-tailed Swallowtail, Butterflies of Canada