Eastern Tiger Swallowtail approaching Joe Pye weed
Papilio glaucus
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 12 July 2026
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail coming in to land on Joe Pye weed in the July border, wings cupped and legs reaching. This is the big yellow butterfly of the eastern woods, at home in every park and garden from Florida to Ontario, and Joe Pye weed in July is where it feeds.
The extensive blue on the hindwing marks this as a female; males carry much less of it. This form, yellow with black tiger stripes, is the common one in the northern part of the range, where the dark female form is rarer.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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