According to this http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/bflyusa.htm the Palamedes Swallowtail isn't listed as being a visitor in my county. None of the yellow Swallowtail's I saw on the site for Alabama actually look exactly like this one though.
Well, after looking at “More images” it must be a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Female I think . http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/al/mor703.htm Hummm ... and not listed as being in my county either.
yep Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, colors are very variable and it does have a very wide distribution range.
That's a nice female Tiger. Maybe the site you looked at was showing a male, they don't have the blue on the hind wings. The fact that it is not in your county only means that nobody has reported it to the website. If you want to go through the trouble you can go ahead and report it.
The Palamedes likes swamps and wet forests, I have tons of them around. If you live in a city you probably wouldn't see them. I have lots of photos, if you want to see a Palamedes let me know and I can put one in here.
that catterpillar sure must have been tired crawling all the way to alabama. ;) nice shot. debi z
lol @ Debi ..... a LONG way :)
Paintedlady if it's a lot of trouble reporting a siting I won't report it. I would love to see a pic of the Palamedes. I live in the country with a creek on the property, I see butterflies mud-pooling down there all the time. This isn't the first species I've seen that's not listed, there is also a small blue butterfly that is cobalt blue with black spots. I can't find a picture on the net of it, so I have no clue to its name. I did plant both host & nectar plants for butterflies that are listed in counties boarding mine to entice them ;) lol.
I intended to report some a while ago. My memory is a little iffy here, but I remember quitting, and I think it was because you have to submit prof of your sighting.
There are lots of different blues, I don't get any of them, so I can't help you with that.
The Palamedes looks like this.
