Recently, I was invited to a friends house for a pool party and was excited to see my first Zebra Swallowtail! These butterflies are just amazing ~ their colors and their long tails are incredible. The host plant for Zebra Swallowtails is the Paw Paw tree, so unless you have them near-by, your chance of having them is slim. I shared my excitement with my first patient the next day, while cleaning his teeth =) He told me he had hundreds of Paw Paw trees on his property and lots of Zebra Swallowtails! He graciously offered to give me some to try to transplant. So ~ after work, still in my scrubs, we road around his property in his golf cart, hunting for the perfect specimens. I also had my eyes out for butterfly eggs or caterpillars, but was unsuccessful. I planted the trees as soon as I got home. I looked on-line to see how to take care of them, so I am hopeful that at least a few of them will make it. Here are a few photos I took of the Zebra Swallowtails ~
This first one was a little tattered ~ it actually lost it's long tails :(
This female was drinking water that had splashed into the crack in the sidewalk.
Just beautiful~ I'm hoping to have a few of them in my yard next year. If the Paw Paw trees make it, I will probably order some of their eggs or caterpillars on-line to get them started in my area.
Wish me luck and as always ~ thanks for visiting!
