The Life of an Adult Spicebush Swallowtail
As the seasons change from winter to spring, the Spicebush Swallowtail transitions from a caterpillar to a beautiful, adult butterfly. Its wings are big and black with white spots to create more of a contrast in color. The central area of its hindwings has blue scales, indicating that it is a female. The butterfly begins to flap her wings, as if she is finally ready to begin her journey of pollination. When the butterfly starts to fly, she makes her way to a flower that seems to be less popular than others. There are no other insects around this flower, making it very easy for this new adult to land on this clustered flower. Once she reaches the flower, she begins to extract the nectar, which gives her the energy she needs to fly to another flower. As she finishes the pollination process, she gets ready to take off, but in the distance sees another one of her kind at the flower it was going to land on. Although she could still go to that flower, she decides to go to another one because there were plenty more open. She takes off for that flower, lands, and pollinates once more.
After a long day of pollination, the butterfly finds a place to rest as the day turns to night. It is important that she places herself in some foliage so that no predators are able to spot her. Upside down and eyes open, the butterfly rests among some twigs and leaves on a tree. The butterfly rests the entire night in preparation for a very active day ahead, but not without interruptions. All throughout the night, many birds and dragonflies scurry around in hopes to find a midnight snack. Fortunately, the butterfly was covered in enough leaves and twigs that it made her camouflage to the creatures around her and therefore, made herself safe through the night. As the sun began to rise, the butterfly emerged from the foliage ready for the day ahead.
The butterfly began her second day of pollination, but today she flew to a less familiar area. Although not far from where she was yesterday, the butterfly has difficulty finding a good place to pollinate flowers. Due to the high population of bees in the area, the butterfly decides to leave and fly somewhere else. Since this butterfly is capable of seeing a wider array of colors than most other butterflies or insects, she finds an empty field of flowers that seem to be relatively untouched. She made her way to a beautiful Sweetbay magnolia tree with freshly bloomed white flowers, perfect for the butterfly to pollinate. The butterfly softly lands on the Sweetbay magnolia flower, pollinates it, then makes her way to another area. As she flies around, she finds an elegant, well-kept garden behind a person’s home. She soars around the garden trying to find the perfect flower to pollinate when one specifically catches her eye. It is bright red and in a large cluster. She flies down near this flower and notices that there is nothing else around it-maybe because none of the bees can see it! Perfect! The butterfly lands and pollinates a few of the flowers. Unfortunately, the butterfly is not as efficient at moving pollen between plants as a bee is, so she tries her best to pollinate as many of the flowers as she can. After a long day of pollination, the butterfly decides to rest in the garden. Once again, she must find a place to hide so that no predators are able to spot it. This time, she decides to hang upside down in between some blades of grass- a typical spot for a butterfly like this to rest.
A few more days passed, and she decides it is time that she looks for a mate. She sets flight off to another area that she has never been before. It takes some time for her to decide. Her first stop is in another garden in the same neighborhood, where she cannot find any other butterflies that are eligible to mate with her. Although a great place to pollinate, she must find a mate before it is too late, so she decides to fly somewhere else. Her next stop is an azalea hedge that is in front of the house of the last garden she stopped at. This hedge was full of large, bright pink flowers and a common place for Spicebush Swallowtails to pollinate. As she lands on one of the beautiful flowers, she spots another butterfly. She flies around to see if it is a potential mate but realizes that it is another female. Bummer. She waits around and pollinates a few flowers until another Spicebush Swallowtail lands on a flower near hers. She spots him and they check one another out. She has found her match.
The mating process is not easy for either of the butterflies as they have very different wants and needs. For example, the female insists on being in the sunlight while the male would prefer the shade. This, as you could imagine, makes it quite difficult for the butterflies to mate with one another. She stays put on her flower as the mate flies around to position himself in a way such that they are both comfortable, and to spare from all the reproductive details, they end up mating and the male goes on his way. She watches the male fly away and begins to pollinate more flowers. Seems a bit strange that they probably won’t see one another ever again, but that is just how it works in their world. Aside from that, life must go on for her and she must get back to her daily routine.
After pollinating a few more flowers, she heads to yet another garden where there is a plethora of different flowers for her to choose from. She decides to land on a large tulip tree with thousands of yellow tulips hanging from the branches. She picks her flower, pollinates it, then notices the day turning to night. Like every other night, she must find the most suitable place to rest, and what better place than in between a few leaves on the tulip tree. Of course, she hangs upside down with her eyes open to keep a lookout for any predators. As the night rolls on, she notices a number of robber flies swarming the tulip tree. She hides up underneath the leave as best as possible in hopes that none of them will see her. Thankfully, none of them did and she was able to rest once again.
As the night trickles into the morning, she decides it is time to stop resting and prepare for the day. She unfolds her wings and sets upon one of the tulip trees, ready for the day ahead. She soars through the crisp spring air, enjoying the magnificent day. Throughout the day, she finds a bunch of new trees, plants, and flowers to pollinate, some of which she has never pollinated before. Days pass as she pollinates more and more flowers, but one day, she realizes that she is ready to lay her eggs. She finds a spicebush plant, which is one of her most favorite plants. When she lands, she goes to the underside of one of the leaves to lay her eggs. She could have laid them on top of the leaf, but it seems to be much safer for the eggs if they are laid on the underside. Along with the eggs, she releases a glue-like substance that allows the eggs to stick to the leaf. She laid what seemed like thousands of eggs, but it was only around 400 (still a lot, right?!).
Unfortunately, this is the end of the journey for this wonderful, adventurous butterfly. Once she lays her eggs, her life comes to an end. Slowly, she began to wither away, only having a small amount of energy left to make it to another leaf, where she then lay quietly, preparing for her inevitable death. Although she lived a short life, she also lived quite a great life, where she was able to explore the world around her and even find a mate. She gave the world hundreds of new lives, which will eventually live the life that she once did. After roughly ten short days, her eggs begin to hatch one after another. Small caterpillars emerge from their shells and resemble small bird droppings on the leaf. Each individual offspring goes a different way to begin their short life as a caterpillar before they begin their life as a pupa in three to four weeks. Eventually, they will begin their lives as beautiful adult butterflies where they can experience the same life as their mother once did.
Although these creatures only live for one to two months, they are a very vital organism for our ecosystem as they help with the pollination of flowers that other insects are unable to pollinate. We should save these insects as best as possible, as their role in nature is very important. 4
References
https://naturemuseum.org/2017/01/where-do-butterflies-go-at-night/
https://awbury.org/2018-year-pollinator/year-pollinator-series-july-spicebush-swallowtail/#:~:text=Spicebush%20swallowtails%20are%20attracted%20to,for%20a%20healthy%20caterpillar%20population.
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Papilio_troilus/
After a long day of pollination, the butterfly finds a place to rest as the day turns to night. It is important that she places herself in some foliage so that no predators are able to spot her. Upside down and eyes open, the butterfly rests among some twigs and leaves on a tree. The butterfly rests the entire night in preparation for a very active day ahead, but not without interruptions. All throughout the night, many birds and dragonflies scurry around in hopes to find a midnight snack. Fortunately, the butterfly was covered in enough leaves and twigs that it made her camouflage to the creatures around her and therefore, made herself safe through the night. As the sun began to rise, the butterfly emerged from the foliage ready for the day ahead.
The butterfly began her second day of pollination, but today she flew to a less familiar area. Although not far from where she was yesterday, the butterfly has difficulty finding a good place to pollinate flowers. Due to the high population of bees in the area, the butterfly decides to leave and fly somewhere else. Since this butterfly is capable of seeing a wider array of colors than most other butterflies or insects, she finds an empty field of flowers that seem to be relatively untouched. She made her way to a beautiful Sweetbay magnolia tree with freshly bloomed white flowers, perfect for the butterfly to pollinate. The butterfly softly lands on the Sweetbay magnolia flower, pollinates it, then makes her way to another area. As she flies around, she finds an elegant, well-kept garden behind a person’s home. She soars around the garden trying to find the perfect flower to pollinate when one specifically catches her eye. It is bright red and in a large cluster. She flies down near this flower and notices that there is nothing else around it-maybe because none of the bees can see it! Perfect! The butterfly lands and pollinates a few of the flowers. Unfortunately, the butterfly is not as efficient at moving pollen between plants as a bee is, so she tries her best to pollinate as many of the flowers as she can. After a long day of pollination, the butterfly decides to rest in the garden. Once again, she must find a place to hide so that no predators are able to spot it. This time, she decides to hang upside down in between some blades of grass- a typical spot for a butterfly like this to rest.
A few more days passed, and she decides it is time that she looks for a mate. She sets flight off to another area that she has never been before. It takes some time for her to decide. Her first stop is in another garden in the same neighborhood, where she cannot find any other butterflies that are eligible to mate with her. Although a great place to pollinate, she must find a mate before it is too late, so she decides to fly somewhere else. Her next stop is an azalea hedge that is in front of the house of the last garden she stopped at. This hedge was full of large, bright pink flowers and a common place for Spicebush Swallowtails to pollinate. As she lands on one of the beautiful flowers, she spots another butterfly. She flies around to see if it is a potential mate but realizes that it is another female. Bummer. She waits around and pollinates a few flowers until another Spicebush Swallowtail lands on a flower near hers. She spots him and they check one another out. She has found her match.
The mating process is not easy for either of the butterflies as they have very different wants and needs. For example, the female insists on being in the sunlight while the male would prefer the shade. This, as you could imagine, makes it quite difficult for the butterflies to mate with one another. She stays put on her flower as the mate flies around to position himself in a way such that they are both comfortable, and to spare from all the reproductive details, they end up mating and the male goes on his way. She watches the male fly away and begins to pollinate more flowers. Seems a bit strange that they probably won’t see one another ever again, but that is just how it works in their world. Aside from that, life must go on for her and she must get back to her daily routine.
After pollinating a few more flowers, she heads to yet another garden where there is a plethora of different flowers for her to choose from. She decides to land on a large tulip tree with thousands of yellow tulips hanging from the branches. She picks her flower, pollinates it, then notices the day turning to night. Like every other night, she must find the most suitable place to rest, and what better place than in between a few leaves on the tulip tree. Of course, she hangs upside down with her eyes open to keep a lookout for any predators. As the night rolls on, she notices a number of robber flies swarming the tulip tree. She hides up underneath the leave as best as possible in hopes that none of them will see her. Thankfully, none of them did and she was able to rest once again.
As the night trickles into the morning, she decides it is time to stop resting and prepare for the day. She unfolds her wings and sets upon one of the tulip trees, ready for the day ahead. She soars through the crisp spring air, enjoying the magnificent day. Throughout the day, she finds a bunch of new trees, plants, and flowers to pollinate, some of which she has never pollinated before. Days pass as she pollinates more and more flowers, but one day, she realizes that she is ready to lay her eggs. She finds a spicebush plant, which is one of her most favorite plants. When she lands, she goes to the underside of one of the leaves to lay her eggs. She could have laid them on top of the leaf, but it seems to be much safer for the eggs if they are laid on the underside. Along with the eggs, she releases a glue-like substance that allows the eggs to stick to the leaf. She laid what seemed like thousands of eggs, but it was only around 400 (still a lot, right?!).
Unfortunately, this is the end of the journey for this wonderful, adventurous butterfly. Once she lays her eggs, her life comes to an end. Slowly, she began to wither away, only having a small amount of energy left to make it to another leaf, where she then lay quietly, preparing for her inevitable death. Although she lived a short life, she also lived quite a great life, where she was able to explore the world around her and even find a mate. She gave the world hundreds of new lives, which will eventually live the life that she once did. After roughly ten short days, her eggs begin to hatch one after another. Small caterpillars emerge from their shells and resemble small bird droppings on the leaf. Each individual offspring goes a different way to begin their short life as a caterpillar before they begin their life as a pupa in three to four weeks. Eventually, they will begin their lives as beautiful adult butterflies where they can experience the same life as their mother once did.
Although these creatures only live for one to two months, they are a very vital organism for our ecosystem as they help with the pollination of flowers that other insects are unable to pollinate. We should save these insects as best as possible, as their role in nature is very important. 4
References
https://naturemuseum.org/2017/01/where-do-butterflies-go-at-night/
https://awbury.org/2018-year-pollinator/year-pollinator-series-july-spicebush-swallowtail/#:~:text=Spicebush%20swallowtails%20are%20attracted%20to,for%20a%20healthy%20caterpillar%20population.
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Papilio_troilus/