Recently my wife and I were walking about our backyard on a recent March after noon we noticed that one of our native azaleas was in full bloom. When we stopped to admire the beautiful blossoms displayed by the large native azalea, an eastern tiger swallowtail flew in and began nectaring at the shrub’s stunning blooms. As we watched the butterfly feed, we both noticed that it was much smaller than the tigers we normally encounter. This begged the question, “Why is this individual so small?”
One possible reason for this is eastern tiger swallowtails overwinter as pupae in a chrysalis. If a butterfly emerges earlier than normal due to unseasonably warm weather, it may be smaller because it pupated before reaching its normal size.
I too noticed an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail that I thought was smaller than usual. I thought to myself, ” that’s smaller than usual”. That was before your post, so I wasn’t biased. I have since seen others, and they do seem smaller. Subjective observations of course. Thanks for that post. Very interesting. Rick
Rick,
I am glad the post was helpful. You are indeed a good observor to notice the diffence between eastern tiger swallowtails.
Terry