Zebra Swallowtails

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!