Papilio troilus

Spicebush swallowtail

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. troilus
Binomial name
Papilio troilus
Subspecies
  • P. troilus troilus
  • P. troilus ilioneus

Papilio troilus, the spicebush swallowtail or green-clouded butterfly, is a common black swallowtail butterfly found in North America.[2] It has two subspecies, Papilio troilus troilus and Papilio troilus ilioneus, the latter found mainly in the Florida peninsula.[3] The spicebush swallowtail derives its name from its most common host plant, the spicebush, members of the genus Lindera.

The family to which spicebush swallowtails belong, Papilionidae, or swallowtails, include the largest butterflies in the world. The swallowtails are unique in that even while feeding, they continue to flutter their wings. Unlike other swallowtail butterflies, spicebushes fly low to the ground instead of at great heights.[4]

  1. ^ "NatureServe Explorer 2.0 - Papilio troilus Spicebush Swallowtail". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Simply Butterflies," Accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.simplybutterflies.com/Backyard_Butterflies.html
  3. ^ Hall, Donald; Butler, Jerry (Aug 2007). "Spicebush Swallowtail," Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. http://www.edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/IN/IN110700.pdf
  4. ^ Scott, James. Butterflies of North America. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1986.

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