Giant Swallowtail

About the Giant Swallowtail

The Giant Swallowtail is the largest butterfly in North America - a slow, powerful flier with a wingspan that can top six inches, dark chocolate-brown above with a bold band of yellow spots crossing both wings, and creamy yellow below. Even at a distance the sheer size gives it away.

Adults cruise woodland edges and gardens with a distinctive flapping-then-gliding flight, and drink from big flowers like lantana and thistle while fluttering their wings continuously. The caterpillar is a marvel of camouflage: it looks exactly like a fresh bird dropping, and when threatened it everts a pair of orange horns that reek of citrus. The larvae feed on citrus, prickly-ash, and rue - the "orange dog" of citrus growers.

In Texas the Giant Swallowtail flies from spring through fall across most of the state and year-round in the Valley, and no visit to a South Texas garden in summer is complete without one gliding through.