''Papilio canadensis'', the Canadian tiger swallowtail, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

in 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 ...

. It was once classified as a subspecies of ''

Papilio glaucus ''Papilio glaucus'', the eastern tiger swallowtail, is a species of butterfly native to eastern North America. It is one of the most familiar butterflies in the eastern United States, ranging north to southern Ontario, Canada, and is common in m ...

''.

Description

Adult

The wingspan of this species is 67 to 80 mm. It is very similar to the eastern tiger swallowtail, but has a noticeably smaller wingspan. Unlike it, the underside, yellow marginal band is continuous. The hindwing has many orange scales on both morphs. This species has also been known to hybridize with both the eastern and

western tiger swallowtail ''Papilio rutulus'', the western tiger swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the ''Papilionidae'' family. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1852. Like the other tiger swallowtails, the western tiger swallowt ...

, though extremely rarely.

Caterpillar

The caterpillar is large and green with an enlarged head. It has four yellow dots and two false eyes with bluish centers. In profile, this caterpillar appears snake-like. The immature larvae are brown and white to mimic bird droppings, making them unappealing to predators.

Distribution

This butterfly is found in most provinces and territories in Canada, as its name implies. Its range extends north of the Arctic Circle in the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, and to

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

in Manitoba, Little Shagamu River in Ontario, and to

Schefferville Schefferville is a town in the Canadian province of Quebec. Schefferville is in the heart of the Naskapi and Innu territory in northern Quebec, less than 2 km (1¼ miles) from the border with Labrador on the north shore of Knob Lake. It i ...

in Quebec. It does not occur in southern British Columbia, being replaced there by the western tiger swallowtail, ''Papilio rutulus'', or in southwestern Ontario, approximately west of Toronto, where it is replaced by the eastern tiger swallowtail. It has not been reported from Labrador, but has been seen in western Newfoundland. It is seen in the northern third of the United States. Within this range, it is a very common and well-known butterfly, even more so around woodland edges. It is one of the most popular puddling species and often hundreds will gather at a single puddle.

Lifecycle

Adults fly during spring and summer and one brood occurs. Females lay eggs singly on the host plant. The caterpillar folds the host plant's leaves and ties them together with silk; they 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 ...

overwinter, then emerge in May.

Adult food

*Nectar

Larval food

*''

Betula A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 t ...

'' – birches *'' Populus'' – poplars, aspens, and cottonwoods *''

Malus ''Malus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 30–55 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated orchard apple, crab apples, wild apples, and rainberries. The genus is native to the temperate zone ...

'' – apple trees *''

Prunus serotina ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...

'' – black cherry

References

* * * * *
Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Butterflies of Canada

External links

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Butterflies of Canada Butterflies of North America canadensis Insects of the Arctic Butterflies described in 1906 {{papilionidae-stub