There were two of these in the garden yesterday doing a mating dance and driving my dog Bleu crazy. I followed these guys around and tried to get a good picture, but they wouldn't be still long enough.
Black and yellow butterfly
That duranta purple sky flower bush really attracts all kinds of butterflies in my yard. I have two good sized ones and recently bought a couple more in gallon pots. They have proved to be excellent nectar sources!
That butterfly looks like a polydamas swallowtail. I really can't tell because it's a bit dark...but here's a dorsal photo of one on my duranta from last week. It shows the red spots on the undersides of the wings.
It's been really hard to get a good photo of the topside of it's wings...they don't stay put!
~ Cat
...and here's a photo showing a bit more of the top side of it's wings.
I tell you, this type of swallowtail and the giant yellow are constantly flitting from flower to flower!
~ Cat
Yes, that looks like it, thanks! I saw some really large yellow with black butterflies in the garden Sunday, but didn't get a picture. Wonder what they were? The giant swallowtail has black with yellow doesn't it? or were the yellow ones the giants?(I'm still learning TX butterflies, lol)