You Ever See A Giant Swallowtail?

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Posted in Eatonton, GA, Swallowtail

Giant Swallowtail butterfly at rest, photographed by Jeff Zablow at "Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch," Eatonton, GA

My house in Eatonton, Georgia is for sale. Its backyard has many beds, full of Georgia native plants. Georgia butterflies seek native plants that are their hostplants. Hostplants are native plants that offer sustenance and shelter for butterfly caterpillars.

We have Hop trees and Hercules Club bushes/trees in our yard. They are the hostplants for the butterfly shown here, the Giant Swallowtail butterfly.  Drawn by our Hop trees and Hercules Club and Rue, we see many Giants each year! This one was seen very, very early in the morning at the Butterflies & Blooms Briar Patch Habitat in Eatonton.

Mention these huge butterflies to most Georgians, and you come to be surprised, for most tell me that they’ve never ever seen a Giant Swallowtail butterfly.

My Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania natives garden attracted 2 or3 Giant Swallowtails each year. I was ecstatic to see them, and I felt very fortunate to have been visited by such extraordinary Giants.

Most Georgians confess that they’ve never seen one. Have you ever seen one?

Jeff

2 thoughts on “You Ever See A Giant Swallowtail?”

  1. I saw one in the Butterfly house at Cox Arb. AND one in my back year in 2019. I have rue by my back door – had no idea it would attract ‘Giants’.

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