Tiger swallowtail: butterfly confusion

During early June, the Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) makes its appearance. This large yellow butterfly with black stripes is familiar to many. What makes this species interesting is that the female comes in 2 different colors or “morphs.” The yellow morph is similar to the male, except for more blue at the rear of the wings. In the case of the black morph female, the yellow is replaced with black, with the same blue variation.

With the black color and the name similarity, the black morph tiger swallowtail may be confused with the black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes). The black swallowtail has more pronounced spot patterns on the wings, and male and female are the same black color.