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Polydamas Swallowtail (Battus polydamas [Linnaeus])
Wing span: 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 inches (9 - 12 cm).
Identification: Lacks tails. Black above with submarginal yellow band.
Life history: Female lays eggs in groups of 10-14 on exposed new stems or growing tips of vines. Caterpillars feed in groups when young. Overwinter as chrysalids.
Flight: Two-3 flights from April-November.
Caterpillar hosts: Pipevines (Aristolochia species).
Adult food: Nectar of lantana. Occasionally seen feeding on honeysuckle and soapweed flowers.
Habitat: Open woods, abandoned fields, disturbed areas.
Range: South Texas and peninsular Florida south to Argentina. Strays north to Kentucky and Missouri.
Conservation: None noted.
Management needs: Manage habitat for caterpillar host plant and nectar sources.
The Nature Conservancy Global Rank: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
References:
Opler, P. A. and G. O. Krizek. 1984. Butterflies east of the Great Plains.
Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 294 pages, 54 color plates.
Opler, P. A. and V. Malikul. 1992. A field guide to eastern butterflies.
Peterson field guide #4. Houghton-Mifflin Co., Boston. 396 pages,
48 color plates.
Scott, J. A. 1986. The butterflies of North America. Stanford University Press,
Stanford, Calif. 583 pages, 64 color plates.
Author: Jane M. Struttmann
State and Regional References:
Brown, J.W., Real, H.G., and D.K. Faulkner. 1992. Butterflies of Baja
California. Lepidoptera Research Foundation, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Comstock, J.A. 1927. Butterflies of California. Privately published, Los
Angeles, Calif. [Facsimile available from Entomological Reprint
Specialists, Los Angeles, Calif.]
Dameron, W. 1997. Searching for butterflies in southern California.
Flutterby Press, Los Angeles, Calif.
Emmel, T.C. Editor. 1998. Systematics of western North American butterflies.
Mariposa Press, Gainesville, Florida.
Emmel, T. C. and J. F. Emmel. 1973. The Butterflies of Southern California.
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Science Series No. 26.
Garth, J.S. and J.W. Tilden. 1986. California Butterflies. California Natural
History Guide 51. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los
Angeles.
Langston, R.L. 1981. The Rhopalocera of Santa Cruz Island, California. Journal
of Research on the Lepidoptera 18: 24-35.
Miller, Scott E. 1985. Butterflies of the Califorenia Channel Islands. Journal
of the Research on the Lepidoptera 23: 282-296.
Opler, Paul A. 1999. Peterson Field Guide to Western Butterflies, revised
edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Orsak, L.J. 1977. The Butterflies of Orange County, California. Museum of
Systematic Biology, University of california, Irvine.
Stanford, R.E. and P.A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies.
Privately published, Denver, Colo.
Steiner, J. 1990. Bay Area Butterflies: The Distribution and Natural History
of San Francisco Region Rhopalocera. Hayward, Calif.: Hayward State
University, Masters Thesis.
Tilden, J.W. and A.C. Smith. 1986. A Field Guide to Western Butterflies.
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass.
Tilden, J.W. 1965. Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay Region. California
Natural History Guide 12. University of California Press, Berkeley and
Los Angeles.
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