“Summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” -William Shakespeare
Is anyone else getting the feeling that Fall is getting ready to kick Summer to the curb & take over the place?
James took this photo earlier this month. He shares that it has been a summer of seeing few butterflies, so it was a delight to find this Swallowtail on his hike at the For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum. See more in his awesome Genesse County Parks gallery on Flickr, and here’s hoping you’re able to grab a little more delight from the last month of summer!
The aptly named giant swallowtail is the biggest butterfly in Michigan. Form your two index fingers into pointers and touch them to each other: if you take a large glove size, the butterfly’s maximum wingspan is approximately the length of both fingers put together. The field guides say around six inches.
The giant swallowtail’s coloration is as spectacular as its size. From the top, its wings look dark brown to black, with yellow dot ribboning and a yellow eye-shaped spot on the end of each wing. When the wings are raised, the bottom is revealed to be a subtle cream interrupted by wavy blue and rust bands.
This species spends its Michigan winter in the pupa stage and emerges in two broods each summer, the first in May through June, the second in July through early September.
