Beautiful Black Swallowtail
by Cheryl Baxter
Title
Beautiful Black Swallowtail
Artist
Cheryl Baxter
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The (Eastern) Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes), also called the American Swallowtail or Parsnip Swallowtail,[1] is a butterfly found throughout much of North America. It is the state butterfly of Oklahoma. An extremely similar-appearing species, Papilio joanae, occurs in the Ozark Mountains region, but it appears to be closely related to Papilio machaon, rather than P. polyxenes. The species is named after the figure in Greek mythology, Polyxena (pron.: /pəˈlɪksɨnə/; Greek: Πολυξένη), who was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy.
The Papilio polyxenes demonstrates polyandry and a lek mating system, showing no male parental care and display sites. Females are therefore able to choose males based on these sites and males are the only resource the females find at these sites.
Uploaded
August 13th, 2014
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Viewed 265 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/19/2024 at 12:44 AM
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