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lejun | profile | all galleries >> Butterflies and Moths >> Native American Butterflies >> Swallowtails (Papilonidae) >> Palamedes Swallowtail tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Palamedes Swallowtail

Papilio palamedes

Palamedes Swallowtails are known as swamp butterflies, but they may more accurately be described
as bay butterflies since they can be expected wherever Swamp Bay and Red Bay (their primary host plants) flourish. While Swamp Bay is
aptly named, Red Bay also grows in drier woodlands, allowing Palamedes Swallowtails to fly beyond the wetlands.
Palamedes Swallowtails are graceful in flight, never fluttery. Closely related to Spicebush Swallowtails,
the family resemblance is strongest in the larval stages. Both begin life in typical swallowtail bird-dropping disguises, both morph into
small snake or tree frog lookalikes, and both turn bright banana yellow before pupation. Unlike Spicebush Swallowtail larvae, Palamedes
caterpillars are apt to rest exposed on upper leaf surfaces. This behavior is not as risky as it seems, because bay shrubs are almost
always disfigured by Red Bay Psyllid larvae, tiny nymphs whose saliva causes leaf margins to swell and curl into popcorn-like
galls. Harmless to the plant, these two-toned, bumpy formations provide additional protective camouflage for two-toned, bumpy
Palamedes caterpillars. Unfortunately, these host-plant specialist swallowtails face a fast-moving threat. Swamp and Red Bays are succumbing by
the thousands to a vascular wilt pathogen in the same genus as the tree-killing Dutch Elm disease. It is carried by Red Bay
Ambrosia Beetles, which were introduced from Southeast Asia into the United States in 2002.
Palamedes Swallowtails
Palamedes Swallowtails		 Palamedes Swallowtails
Palamedes Swallowtails		 Palamedes Swallowtail
Palamedes Swallowtail		 Palamedes Swallowtail
Palamedes Swallowtail 		Palamedes Swallowtail
Palamedes Swallowtail		 Palamedes Swallowtail
Palamedes Swallowtail

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