Linnaeus, 1758
Swallowtail
Description:
The Swallowtail is a species of flower-rich meadows and small-scale farmland. The males and females meet at hilltops or above high trees, showing a type of behaviour known as "hill-topping", with the butterflies dancing up and down in the air. The butterfly of the Swallowtail needs a lot of nectar. In the south of the range, they are so common that they also occur in parks and gardens.
Eggs are laid on various umbellifers, including Wild Carrot (Daucus carota). The British population in the Norfolk Broads only uses Milk-Parsley (Peucedanum palustre) as a food plant. The fully-grown larvae are very conspicuous, bright green with black stripes and orange spots. When disturbed they can suddenly shoot out a Y-shaped, orange scent-gland or osmeterium, just behind its head, producing a strong, unpleasant smell.
However, the caterpillars from autumn broods leave the food plant to pupate on the ground and hibernation takes place as a chrysalis. The caterpillars of the summer broods pupate low down on the larval food plant. Depending on the altitude of the breeding ground and its position in the distribution range, the Swallowtail produces one to three generations a year.
Habitat:
Dry calcareous grasslands
Mesophile grasslands
Sclerophyllous scrub
Similar species:
Papilio alexanor
Iphiclides podalirius