The giant swallowtail or Papilio Cresphontes is a very welcomed visitor to any ones yard or garden! It beauty along with it size make it a breath taking creature to behold! This one flew in today and decided to land on our jasmine bush,where my son just happened to be lurking with his trusty butterfly net. He was quite proud of his catch. Upon studying up on these today , I learned that they are found as far north as Ontario to as far south as Mexico and South America and are most common in Florida,where they are really considered a pest to citrus growers. In their larvae state they are commonly refer to as "orange dogs" because they like to feed on citrus foliage.( giant swallowtails like to sip nectar from various flowers and have been known to sip water off of manure. They are partial to milkweed flowers , which we have an abundance of this year,so I hope to see more. They range in size from 11cm to 18cm depending on gender,with females being the larger of the two! Well in closing I would just like to say I hope you enjoy the photos (the one of the flower I took while fishing with my son) and keep on enjoying Gods beautiful playground!
