The island’s Giant Swallowtail butterfly is said to be the largest of the true swallowtail species globally, with an average wingspan of six inches. The butterfly goes through various stages in its life cycle – egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), adult/butterfly.

The egg, according to information from the website of the Jamaica Sustainable Development Network (JSDN) is “spherical, smooth, and averages 2mm across. A newly laid egg, the JSDN notes, is pale green but changes to pale yellow and then dark brown before it hatches into a larva, which consumes a lot of food (first its egg and later, leaves) before getting to the pupa stage. The pupa stage lasts about 60 days before a butterfly emerges.

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Jamaica’s Giant Swallowtail makes its home in remote areas that are typified by difficult terrain. In Jamaica, they may be found in the Cockpit Country and inside the Blue and John Crow Mountains national park.

Feeding habits

The adults of the species feed on nectar while the larvae feed on leaves. Among the flowers that have proven the source of its nectar are Hibiscus rosasinensis (Shoe black), Lantana camara (Orange Sage) and Hernandia catalpaefolia, according to information from the JSDN website. The foodplant of the larva is Hernandia catalpaefolia, often called water mahoe.

Survival threats

Threats to the species – which is among the more than 22 endangered animals and plants listed under Jamaica’s Wildlife and Protection Act – include parasitic wasps in the egg and bacteria in the larval stages. Forest clearing is also a threat since it puts the eggs at risk.

Sources: Jamaica Sustainable Development Network – www.jsdnp.org.jm/papilioho.htm; and

The nature Conservancy – www.nature.org/wherewework/caribbean/jamaica/work/art8666.html.

Florida’s Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

It is Florida’s giant swallowtail, not Jamaica’s, that is known as the orange dog as reported last week. Like the Papilio homerus, however, the Papilio crephontes (the photograph of which was carried last week) is striking. The adults are large with a forewing span of between 4.6 cm and to 6.9 cm. For males, the forewing span is between 5.3 cm to 7.4 cm, while females have an average wingspan of 5.8 cm. The dorsal wing surfaces of the butterfly are black with a striking diagonal yellow bar across the forewings, with the ventral wing surfaces are primarily yellow.

Like the Papilio homerus, it is goes through various stages in its life cycle – egg, larva, pupa, adult/butterfly. The adult is a welcome visitor to butterfly gardens and to general landscape plantings, according to information from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

The larval or caterpillar stage however, can be “considered a pest because of its habit of feeding on the foliage of most citrus species. It is for this reason that the butterfly and more particularly the larva is known as the orange dog.

Home The giant swallowtail occurs across the American continent unlike the Papilio Homerus which is endemic to Jamaica. The species ranges southward to Florida and the Caribbean, into the south-western parts of the US, on through Mexico and into Central and South America.

Feeding habits

Adult butterflies sip nectar from many flowers. Their nectar sources include azalea, bougainvillea, Japanese honeysuckle, goldenrod, dame’s rocket, bouncing Bet, and swamp milkweed. They may also sip liquid from manure. Food plants of the larvae include other citrus species, Zanthoxylum americanum (northern prickly ash), Z clavaherculis (Hercules club), Z fagara (lime prickly ash), Dictamnus albus, Casimiroa edulis and Amyris elemifera (torchwood), and other Rutaceae, such as Ptelea trifoliata (hoptree) and Choisya dumosa (Mexican orange).

Source: University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agriculture – creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/citrus/giantswallowtail.htm