Beauty in the Flowers

by Judi Dressler

Title

Beauty in the Flowers

Artist

Judi Dressler

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Photograph - Photography

Description

Beautiful Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly drinking nectar out of the flowering bush in my front yard. S/he gave me plenty of opportunities to get photographs, flitting from flower to flower.

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus) is one of the most common and beautiful eastern butterflies. Individuals can be found anywhere east of the Mississippi river and a bit farther west into the Great Plains states. There are also populations in several Mexican states.

Swallowtails are very large insects. When basking in the sun, their outspread wings can be 8 to 14 cm (3 to 5.5 inches) from tip to tip. Their colors are vibrant. Broad yellow wings are edged by black and with four stripes, like tapering chevrons from the forewing margins downward into the yellow wings. The bottom edges of the hind wings are especially colorful with bluish scales and one or more red spots. Male Tiger Swallowtails generally have darker blacks and none of the bluish and red scales on their hind wings. Interestingly, there is a black morph, where black replaces the broad yellow expanses. The black morphs also have the bluish and red wing scales on their hind wings.

Photo taken on June 9, 2022 in Louisville, Colorado

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Descriptive keywords and tags for this image include butterflies, swallowtails, tiger swallowtails, swallowtail butterfly, eastern tiger swallowtail, flower, white flower, beautiful, colorful, papilio glaucus, papilionidae, papilio, nectar, insects, bugs, nature, colorado, wildlife, wild, dressler, and judi dressler.

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November 23rd, 2022

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