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Sticker of Palamedes swallowtail
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Palamedes swallowtail

Papilio palamedes
Eats: Nectar and pollenButterfliesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The Palamedes swallowtail is a big dark brown butterfly with yellow bands across its wings. Underneath, its back wings have stripes of cream, orange and blue. It glides through warm, wet swamp forests in the south of the United States.

Lives in
The southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico, in swamps and wet forests
Wingspan
11 to 13 cm (4.3 to 5.1 in)
Top speed
about 22 km/h (14 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The butterfly drinks nectar from flowers with its long tongue. Its caterpillars eat the leaves of redbay, swampbay and sassafras.
For real!Photo of Palamedes swallowtail
Picture by Renee from Las Vegas, USA. CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Palamedes swallowtail wings about 13 cm tip to tip (5.1 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)A house cat about 50 cm (20 in)
wings as wide as your handcould fly across a whole football pitch in 17 seconds

How big is Palamedes swallowtail compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its caterpillar is green with two big fake eyes on its front end.

2

The caterpillar hides in a shelter it makes from a leaf.

3

Its green chrysalis has two little horns on its head and rests through the whole winter.

4

When a male and female meet, they fly side by side, about a foot apart, slowly and together.

5

Its long tongue reaches deep into some special flowers, like some wild orchids.

you asked

Most asked questions about Palamedes swallowtail

?How big is the Palamedes swallowtail?

Its wings measure about 11 to 13 centimetres from tip to tip.

?What does a Palamedes swallowtail caterpillar eat?

Leaves of redbay, swampbay and sassafras trees.

?Where does the Palamedes swallowtail live?

In swamps and wet forests of the southeastern United States and northeastern Mexico.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Papilio palamedes
Group
Butterflies
Family
Papilionidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
Lives on
North America
Also known as
Laurel swallowtail

Where the facts come from

  1. Papilio palamedes (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Renee from Las Vegas, USA. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Butterflies

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores