Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle
by Kathy White
Title
Black Swallowtail Butterfly on Thistle
Artist
Kathy White
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
This beautiful black swallowtail butterfly was flittering around on this flowering thistle weed one spring afternoon. He didn't care whether I was photographing him at all.
The Eastern Black Swallowtail is also called the American swallowtail, or parsnip swallowtail. He is actually the state butterfly of Oklahoma, but this one was photographed in East Texas out in the country.
The black swallowtail has a wingspan of 8 to 11 cm (3.1 to 4.3 in). The upper surface of the wings is mostly black. On the inner edge of the hindwing is a black spot centered in larger orange spot. A male of this species has a yellow band near edge of wings; a female has row of yellow spots. The hindwing of the female has an iridescent blue band.
The black swallowtail is on a milk thistle flowering plant. Milk thistle is a thistle of the genus Silybum, a flowering plant of the daisy family. The name "milk thistle" derives from a feature of the leaves, which are prominently banded with splashes of white. Historically, these milky bands were said to be Mother Mary's milk, and this is the origin of another common name, St. Mary's thistle. Members of this genus grow as annual or biennial plants. The erect stem is tall, branched and furrowed but not spiny. They have large, disc-shaped pink-to-purple, rarely white, solitary flower heads at the end of the stem. The flowers consist of tubular florets. The phyllaries under the flowers occur in many rows, with the outer row with spine-tipped lobes and apical spines.
The thistles are found in the woods, alongside roadways and the swallowtails are lured to its blossoms for the nectar. They feed upon the thistle and then the female lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves. She may deposit several eggs on the same leaf. Some try really hard to eradicate the thistle weed from their land, but I really enjoy seeing them dotting the countryside, especially when the butterflies are visiting!
Uploaded
January 9th, 2013
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Viewed 125 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/25/2024 at 11:31 AM
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Comments (10)
Kathy White
Thank you so much Dance With Nature! I am so glad you like it! I love butterflies! Thank you for the vote and fave!!
Kathy White
Thank you so much Mary Machare for the visit!! And for the fave and vote!! Much appreicated!
Randy Rosenberger
Kathy, a brilliant spectacle of fine natural art! I love the combo of the flower and the "flying flower" combined together! A very beautiful piece! fave and vote
Kathy White replied:
Thank you so much, Randy Rosenberger for the feature in our group Wisconsin Flowers and Scenery. Also, thank you for the wonderful comments and fave and vote! I appreciate you and the work you do every day for us!