Papilio polyxenes
| Black swallowtail | |
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| Male | |
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| Female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Tribe: | Papilionini |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: | P. polyxenes |
| Binomial name | |
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Papilio polyxenes Fabricius, 1775 |
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| Subspecies | |
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| External identifiers for Papilio polyxenes | |
|---|---|
| Encyclopedia of Life | 131355 |
| Also found in: | |
Papilio polyxenes, the (eastern) black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma and New Jersey. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae, occurs in the Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon, rather than P. polyxenes. The species is named after the figure in Greek mythology, Polyxena (pron.: /pəˈlɪksɨnə/; Greek: Πολυξένη), who was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy. Its caterpillar is called the parsley worm because the caterpillar feeds on parsley.
The Papilio polyxenes demonstrates polyandry and a lek mating system, showing no male parental care and display sites. Females are therefore able to choose males based on these sites and males are the only resource the females find at these sites.
P. polyxenes is part of the family Papilionidae of the swallowtail butterflies in the Papilionini tribe. The members of this tribe all have tails on the hindwings, and therefore include species named swallowtail.P. polyxenes is part of the genus Papilio, which is the biggest group of the family Papilionidae. Members of this genus typically feed on plants of the family Lauraceae, Rutaceae and Umbelliferae.
Papilio polyxenes are found from southern Canada through to South America. In North America they are more common east of the Rocky Mountains. They are usually found in open areas like fields, parks, marshes or deserts, and they prefer tropical or temperate habitats.
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Wikipedia