What a beautiful male spicebush swallowtail, Angie! I'm sorry you didn't get to release them.

Sherry

Thanks Sherry. I was sorry too. I had to take my older son down to UWG for freshman orientation for a couple of days, so it was an unavoidable and necessary trip. They were so pretty. Wish I had been able to get the photos and see them though. :o)

Angie,

I'm sorry, too, that you weren't able to see them before they ventured forth but you did a fantastic job getting them to this stage.

Your son also did a great job capturing such a nice photo of your grown up baby!

Thanks, Sherry, for pointing out the gender. Now I'll have an idea of what to look for when mine eclose. I hope they are as healthy as Angie's butterfly!

Mary

You're welcome, Mary, you know I love to talk butterflies! The coloring on the lower wings of male spicebush swallowtails can vary from bright ice blue, like Angie's, to gray to blue green to gray green. Females' lower wings are consistently true blue, like the blue on a female tiger swallowtail - if you get one that's blue, you sometimes need to study it a bit.

Sherry