Zebra Swallowtail

The Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus) butterfly is our singular native representative of the kite swallowtails (tribe Leptocircini) in Florida. These butterflies have a fairly triangular shape and taper to a point with long swallowtails on their hind wings. Their common names comes from the zebra-like striping on their wings.

The Zebra Swallowtail hosts on Pawpaw (Asimina) leaves, although females prefer to lay eggs on new growth and larvae can only consume young leaves of the plants. The caterpillars are variable in coloring, changing in color and pattern from one instar to the next and are armed with bright yellow osmeterium.

Osmeterium are a fleshy organ where caterpillars of swallowtail species sequester essential oils from their host plants, also known as terpenes. These oils coat the normally hidden osmeterium which can be everted or pushed out when the caterpillar is threatened. The osmetierium are usually a bright warning color like red, yellow or orange and because of the terpenes smell quite foul. Each species has its own unique odor based upon what plants the caterpillar has been eating.

Adult male Zebra Swallowtails can often be found in groups sipping liquids from moist sandy areas. This behavior is called puddling and you can see some great pictures at this website. Butterflies of this species are usually found in greater concentrations near their host plant Pawpaw which tends to grow in undisturbed upland habitants.

Zebra Swallowtail adults exhibit seasonal dimorphism which means that their wing patterns are variable and change seasonally. Early spring individuals are smaller in size, have more white coloring and have shorter tails. Later season individuals are larger, show more black coloring and have much longer swallowtails.