Papilio canadensis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Canadian tiger swallowtail |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: |
P. canadensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Papilio canadensis (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906)
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| Synonyms | |
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Pterourus canadensis |
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The Canadian tiger swallowtail (Papilio canadensis) is a large butterfly in the family Papilionidae. Naturalists Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan first described it in 1906. Scientists once grouped it as part of another species called Papilio glaucus. Today, experts know it is its own special insect. This beautiful flyer is famous for its bright yellow wings with black tiger stripes.
Contents
What Does the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Look Like?
The adult butterfly has a wingspan of 67 to 80 millimeters across. It looks very similar to the eastern tiger swallowtail. However, the Canadian species has a noticeably smaller wingspan than its eastern cousin.
You can tell them apart by looking closely at their colorful wing patterns. On the underside of the front wing, a solid yellow band runs along the edge. The hind wings show bright orange scales on both the males and females. Very rarely, this insect can mate with the western tiger swallowtail or eastern species.
Clever Caterpillar Camouflage
The caterpillar changes its looks dramatically as it grows bigger through each stage. Young larvae look brown and white to mimic messy bird droppings. This clever trick keeps hungry birds from trying to eat them.
Older caterpillars turn bright green with swollen front sections that look like big heads. They show off four bright yellow dots and two large false eyes. These spots have bluish centers that look like real pupils. Seen from the side, the insect resembles a tiny green tree snake.
Where Can You Spot This Butterfly?
This insect makes its home across wide areas throughout northern North America. As its name suggests, it lives in most provinces and territories across Canada. Its range reaches north past the chilly Arctic Circle into the wild Yukon.
You can spot them near Churchill and by the Little Shagamu River in Ontario. They also live east around Schefferville in Quebec and across central Newfoundland. They avoid southern British Columbia, where the western tiger swallowtail lives instead. Other swallowtails take over in southwestern Ontario, west of Toronto. These butterflies also fly through the northern third of the United States.
Puddling Behavior
These butterflies love sunny spaces, especially along the edges of open woodlands and trails. They are famous for an unusual habit known to scientists as puddling. Dozens or even hundreds of swallowtails will gather around a single wet mud puddle. They use their long mouthparts to drink water and take in important minerals.
The Life Cycle of the Butterfly
Adult butterflies fly freely through the warm months of spring and summer. A single mother lays round green eggs one by one on tree leaves.
After hatching, the hungry baby caterpillar starts eating and building a safe shelter. It spins strong silk threads to fold tree leaves tightly together around itself. The caterpillar hides inside this cozy tent during the day to stay safe. It crawls out when it needs to feed on its leafy home.
Winter Rest and Adult Food
When autumn arrives, the insect enters the pupa stage to rest. The pupae spend the freezing winter under snow before emerging in warm May.
Adult butterflies spend their sunny days sipping sweet flower nectar for energy. Hungry growing caterpillars chew on leaves from several common woodland trees:
- Betula – white birch and yellow birch trees
- Populus – trembling aspens, cottonwoods, and balsam poplars
- Malus – sweet wild crabapple and orchard apple trees
- Prunus serotina – wild black cherry tree branches
