Black Swallowtail Butterfly wings Papilio polyxenes #1

Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes Close-up of wings. Black Swallowtail Butterfly sitting on purple butterfly bush.Papilio polyxenes, the black... more

by Iris Richardson

Title

Black Swallowtail Butterfly wings Papilio polyxenes #1

Artist

Iris Richardson

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes Close-up of wings. Black Swallowtail Butterfly sitting on purple butterfly bush.Papilio polyxenes, the black swallowtail, American swallowtail or parsnip swallowtail, is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of New Jersey. Upper surface of wings mostly black; on inner edge of hindwing is a black spot centered in larger orange spot. Male has yellow band near edge of wings; female has row of yellow spots. Female hindwing with iridescent blue band. We grow extra dill and other herbs in our garden to attract butterflies. When we see the first caterpillar on our dill we collect them and raise them in a safe butterfly enclosure. When they come out of their chrysalis we release them on our butterfly bushes. This is when I pull out my macro lens and take a portrait of our black swallowtail butterflies. It take a few minutes for the butterfly to stretch their wings in order to fly.

I was able to take this extreme macro photograph from since the black swallowtail butterfly was still sitting still letting its wings unfold. It's wings are crisp and brightly in color. Nature and sun did not have a chance to damage the delicate butterfly wing. The deep pink is the flower the swallowtail butterfly is sitting on.

Uploaded

October 1st, 2014