Spicebush Swallowtails on thistle
Papilio troilus
Spicebush Swallowtail · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 13 August 2026
Two Spicebush Swallowtails sharing a single thistle head in the August border, one arriving as the other feeds. A butterfly of the eastern woods, wherever spicebush or sassafras grows for the caterpillars, and a regular in the garden all summer.
The dusty blue-green wash across the hindwing, stronger in some individuals than others, is what separates this species from the very similar Black Swallowtail. Despite the name, adults will nectar at almost anything in bloom; it is only the caterpillars that insist on spicebush and sassafras.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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