A friend walked in our house this evening with a butterfly (or moth) which had landed on his shirt. It wasn't flying away. Knowing that I take photos of anything that moves, he felt he should show it to me. My husband immediately declared that it was a moth - not a butterfly. This disagreement has arisen before, but I have photos now, and I have Dave. Will somebody please help us settle this dispute?
So sorry - I didn't include the GOOD photos...
That's a Tiger swallowtail butterfly!! So cool.
I checked Wikipedia and the markings look like Western Tiger swallowtail vs Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
Also your location would also suggest the Western Tiger ST as more likely.
This message was edited Jul 13, 2014 12:09 AM
Thanks so very much for clearing this up. This must be a migration season for them because I see them everywhere in our flower garden. Time to start rehearsing my "I told you so" dance.
General rule of thumb: look at their antennae - butterflies have plain slender antenna with a "club" on the tip. Moths have more elaborate antenna, feathered or very long, without the club
