Zebra SWALLOWTAIL AND GIANT swallowtail

Zebra Swallowtail, coming in for a landing on milkweed flowers at Cowan Lake. 

Zebra Swallowtails fly from April through August. This is a spring brood individual at left, photographed at Twin Creek MetroPark on April 23, 2022. The tails are broken off, which can happen due to wear and tear or bird strikes. 

This Zebra Swallowtail is puddling at wet sand. I photographed this butterfly at Sebald Park (part of Elk Creek MetroPark in Butler County). Zebra Swallowtails use pawpaws as their host plant, so these butterflies are often found in woods near streams and creeks. 

This individual lost one of its tails, possibly due to a bird attack. This Giant Swallowtail was basking in the sun on a summer day, when the weather had turned unusually cool (which made this butterfly sluggish and easier to photograph). These beautiful giant butterflies fly from late April through mid-September.

This Giant Swallowtail is nectaring on sunflowers at Huffman Prairie.  Huffman Prairie is one of the best places in our area to find these butterflies. 

This Giant Swallowtail was nectaring on a thistle at Germantown MetroPark. Giant Swallowtails have yellow on the undersides of their wings, and they also have distinctive yellow spots on the tips of their tails. 

Zebra Swallowtails are large and graceful butterflies. They look better suited to the tropics than Dayton, Ohio. 

The summer form (left) has longer tails and is typically larger and darker than the spring form. 

This Giant Swallowtail is nectaring on swamp milkweed at Grant Park in Centerville. Most butterflies find milkweed nectar irresistible, and Giant Swallowtails are no exception.

Giant Swallowtails are our largest butterfly species in terms of overall wing surface. This is a somewhat uncommon species; I see them in several locations but never in large numbers. This individual was nectaring on a chaste tree at Cox Arboretum.

Zebra Swallowtails have the longest tails of any butterfly in our area.

My first sight of a Zebra Swallowtail was the "spark" that got me interested in butterflies.