CLOSED: Is this a Swallowtail Butterfly? Missing Hindwing bottoms

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greenbunny Minneapolis, MN(Zone 4a) Aug 12, 2010

I found this beautiful butterfly sucking up the nectar out of my two-year-old Purple Giant Hyssop here in Minneapolis, MN, but I can't tell what kind it is!

I didn't think to measure it, but I guarantee it was at least 6, if not 7 inches across (because it was larger than my hand from pinkie to thumb outstretched, and he/she hung around for a while). I've got a butterfly ID book, but this doesn't match anything I'm finding perfectly. What kind is it?

The body is yellow.

Thanks for your help!
Peace,
Carrie Anne

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Post #8036082
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Aug 12, 2010

This appears to be a dark morph of the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) - see http://tinyurl.com/2dwkqm7 for an example.

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greenbunny Minneapolis, MN(Zone 4a) Aug 12, 2010

Thanks! After looking at other image's based on your suggestion, I found this website with a photo that is much closer (lighter/more yellow) to the pic I took.

Check out: http://www.cirrusimage.com/butterfly_etigerblack.htm

So, I see this is a female. Is it unusual for Papilio glaucus to fly this far north?

Happy to learn she'll be happy munching on our cottonwood leaves!

Carrie Anne

Post #8036784
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Aug 13, 2010

Iy is not unusual to find them that far north; I remember seeing them on our farm near Minot, ND when I was growing up there in the 1940s and 50s.

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