Tiger Swallowtail on a zinnia
Papilio glaucus
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail · Brooklyn Botanic Garden · 12 July 2025
An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a zinnia in the July border, proboscis down into the central disc where the nectar actually is. This is the butterfly of every eastern garden in summer, and a zinnia's flat top makes a good landing platform for something this size, which is why the two are so often photographed together.
The showy outer petals of a zinnia are sterile ray florets. The business of the flower is the ring of tiny yellow disc florets in the middle, which open a few at a time over weeks, and the swallowtail is drinking from those.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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