An Easy Butterfly Gardener’s Guide to Omaha, NE Swallowtails

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

The Eastern Tiger swallowtail flies in the mid-western and eastern United States from the Rocky Mountains and east. In the Eastern US it is likely one of the most distinctive swallowtails. The light green eggs are laid on the host plants. The caterpillar has five stages; with the first three a brown color and the last two as a green color. The brown chrysalis is placed in on trunks or on fallen leaves.

The adults have a wingspan of 3 inches (7.6 cm) to 5.5 inches (14 cm) and have two color schemes. The yellow and black is the most distinctive, but the females also have a dark black phase that mimics the pipevine swallowtail (see image). This species has up to two broods in Nebraska, one in the spring and one in the summer (Johnson 1972).

Plants that Host the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The eastern tiger swallowtail is a generalist and uses members of a number of genera as host plants that are generally shrubs and trees. Some species in the Omaha, NE area include:

• Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum): a tree
• Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum): a tree
• White Ash (Fraxinus americana): a tree
• Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica): a tree
• Members of the Prunus genus (Cherries and Plums): shrubs and trees
• American Basswood (Tilia americana): a medium to large tree

Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)

The Old World Swallowtail is common the Arctic regions and in Europe and North America. In North America it flies from the midwest and western United States, western Canada, and Alaska. The orange eggs are laid on the host plants.

The adult is black and yellow with blue markings by the hindquarters and two red eyespots. The wingspan is about 2.5 inches (6.3 cm) to 3.5 inches (8.9 cm). Sometimes the black coloring is washed out and more yellowish.

Plants that Host the Old World Swallowtail

The Old World Swallowtail uses plants in the Carrot Family (Apiaceae) as host plants. In the Omaha, NE area, these include:

• Spotted Water-hemlock (Cicuta maculata): a herbaceous plant.
• Spreading Chervil (Chaerophyllum procumbens): a herbaceous plant
• Canadian Honewort (Cryptotaenia canadensis): a herbaceous plant
• American Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum): a herbaceous plant
• Slender Wild Parsley (Musineon tenuifolium): a herbaceous plant (Reiser and Spomer 1994)
• Cicelys (Osmorhiza spp.): herbaceous plants
• Canadian Black Snakeroot (Sanicula canadensis): a herbaceous plant
• Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea): a herbaceous plant

Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)

The Palamedes swallowtail flies generally in the coastal plain of the east and gulf coasts of the United States. However, it has strayed as far north as Nebraska. The light greenish-yellow eggs are laid on the host plants. The caterpillar is brown and has smaller eyespots than that of the spicebush swallowtail. The brown chrysalis is placed in on trunks or on fallen leaves.

The adults have a wingspan of 4.5 inches (11.5 cm) to 5.25 inches (13.25 cm) and are black with whitish-yellow to yellow spots on the upperside of the wing. The underside is more prominently yellow with blue markings. Generally there are two broods per year.

Plants that Host the Palamedes Swallowtail

The palamedes swallowtail is a rare stray in the Omaha, Nebraska area. It utilizes members of the Laurel Family (Lauraceae) as hosts and there are no species of this family in the Omaha, NE area. If this species is in the area it can be attracted to your garden with nectar plants.

Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)

The Black Swallowtail flies in most of the United States, except for the Northwest. The yellow eggs are laid on the host plants and take about a week to hatch. The caterpillars are at first black colored but later have green, black, and yellow coloring and last from a week to a month. The butterflies then survive the winter as a chrysalis.

The adults have a wingspan of 2.5 (7cm) to 3.5 inches (8.5cm) and are black colored with yellow spots along the wings and a red eyepsot near the tail on the top. The underside has orange spots. This butterfly may have up to two broods in Nebraska, in May and in mid-July (Johnson 1972).

Plants that Host the Black Swallowtail

Members of the Apiaceae (Carrot Family)

The black swallowtail is a generalist and uses members of the carrot family (Apiaceae) as host plants. Some examples of carrot family members in Omaha include:

• Spotted Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata): a herbaceous plant
• Rattlesnake-Master (Eryngium aquaticum): a herbaceous plant
• Button Eryngo (Eryngium yuccifolium): a herbaceous plant
• Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare): an introduced herbaceous plant
• Slender Wild Parsley (Musineon tenuifolium): a herbaceous plant (Reiser and Spomer 1994).
• Herbwilliam (Ptilimnium capillaceum): a herbaceous plant

Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)

The spicebush swallowtail flies in the mid-western and eastern United States. The greenish eggs are laid on the leaves of spicebush. The caterpillars are brown at first but then turn yellow. The chrysalis is attached to leaves on the ground. The adults have a wingspan of 3 inches (1 cm) to 4 inches (1.5 cm) and are black with white spots along the bottom and a red eyespot on the bottom middle.

Plants that Host the Spicebush Swallowtail

As the common name would suggest, spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail as is the sassafras (Sassafras albidum), both of which are members of the Laurel Family (Lauraceae). However, just like with the Palamedes Swallowtail, the spicebush swallowtail only feeds on members of the Lauraceae (Scriber et al 2008).

Since there are no hosts this species is likely a stray in the Omaha area but the spicebush and sassafras can be grown in the hardiness zone of Omaha.

• Spicebush (Lindera benzoin): a shrub to small tree
• Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) — An understory tree

Zebra Swallowtail (Protographium marcellus)

The zebra swallowtail flies in the mid-western and eastern United States. The green to brown eggs are laid on the leaves of the host plant, which is the pawpaw. The caterpillars have two color variations, first black and then later stages are more colorful with green and yellow stripes. The brown chrysalis can overwinter in colder climates (Wikipedia).

The black and white multi-colored adults have a wingspan of 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) to 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) and fly from February to December with a more restricted season in more northern places. The early season brood can be smaller and has a shorter tail than the later summer brood that is larger and has a long tail (animaldiversity.org).

Plants that Host the Zebra Swallowtail

The zebra swallowtail uses members of the Custard Apple Family (Annonaceae) as host plants. In the Omaha area, there is one pawpaw (Asimina triloba) that are used as hosts.