Spicebush Swallowtail, underside
Papilio troilus
Spicebush Swallowtail · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 19 August 2026
A Spicebush Swallowtail with the wings closed in the August border, showing the underside of the hindwing. It is a butterfly of the eastern woods wherever spicebush and sassafras grow for the caterpillars, and a garden regular through August.
Two rows of pale, orange-tinged spots with a band of blue-grey between them. This is the more reliable mark for the species when the upperside isn't on view, and it separates it from the dark female form of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, whose underside has a single row of orange spots and no blue between. The caterpillars are famous for the pair of false eyes that make the later stages look like a small green snake.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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