''Papilio multicaudata'', the two-tailed swallowtail, is a species of the family

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larg ...

found in western North America from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Description

The two-tailed swallowtail is a large swallowtail of western North America, one of several species that have yellow wings with black tiger striping. Each hindwing has several blue markings (top and bottom). Like other striped swallowtails, it has a small orange eyespot near the lower angle of each hindwing; the eyespots can fool predators into attacking the rear of the butterfly instead of the head, giving the butterfly a chance to escape. Its appearance is similar to the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, and eastern tiger swallowtails, but has narrower black stripes and usually two tails on each hindwing (rather than only one). Most two-tails have a black "slit pupil" in the orange eyespot on each hindwing, never present in western tiger. It is also usually larger than similar swallowtails within its range, although some eastern tiger swallowtails are as big as any two-tailed. The wingspan ranges from , making it the largest swallowtail in western North America. As is the case with most swallowtails, females are larger and more brightly colored than males, having more blue and orange markings on the hindwings. It does not tend to hybridize with related species as do the western, eastern, and Canadian tiger swallowtails. The butterfly can be seen from Guatemala, through

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the western United States to southern Canada in southern British Columbia,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and southwestern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

. It typically lives near streams and in moist valleys but also in canyons and cities at lower elevations.Two-tailed Swallowtail
Butterflies of Canadahttp://www.toddshikingguide.com/FloraFauna/Fauna52.htm ccessed May 2008/ref> Host plants include: chokecherry, bitter cherry, Arizona rosewood, single-leaf ash, hoptree, and Arizona sycamore. In California it mostly uses California hoptree. Elsewhere in the West, it often uses green ash planted along city roads (in California, city habitats are usually occupied by western tiger swallowtails rather than two-tailed). The two-tailed swallowtail is the

state butterfly State insects are designated by 48 individual states of the fifty United States. Some states have more than one designated insect, or have multiple categories (e.g., state insect and state butterfly, etc.). Iowa and Michigan are the two states with ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Life cycle

Adults fly during spring and summer and there is one brood. Females lay eggs singly on the host plant. The caterpillar will fold the host plant's leaves and tie them together with silk they will then eat from this structure. The

pupae A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

will overwinter then emerge in May.

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:''Papilio''
funet.fi * ''P. m. grandiosus'' Austin & Emmel, 1998 – Mexican mountains. * ''P. m. multicaudata'' Kirby, 1884 – widespread subspecies from southern Colorado, northern New Mexico, south through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and much of Mexico. * ''P. m. pusillus'' Austin & Emmel, 1998 – widespread northern subspecies, in Rockies from southern Colorado north to Canada, throughout Washington and Oregon, and south along Pacific Coast at least to Ventura County, California, as well as in Sierras and Great Basin.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q137370 multicaudata Lepidoptera of the United States Fauna of the Southwestern United States Symbols of Arizona Papilionidae of South America Butterflies described in 1884