It's a beautiful tiger swallowtail. I believe it is a female, but Sherry will need to say for sure.

Congratulations.

In my opinion tigers are the most beautiful of all the large butterflies.

If you need to know more about how to get more butterflies just ask here. There are a lot of knowledgeable people who frequent this forum.

It was a stunning butterfly. I spent half the afternoon and still couldn't identify her. I have a lot to learn and look forward to!

Just beautiful!! I believe that it is a female as they have more blue than the male but as Tom said, Sherry will know for sure :) Thanks for sharing.

Rhonda

It helps if you can put your grow zone next to your name. Many plants and butterflies are zone specific.

I recognize your name from the Florida Gardening forum.

I see more tigers in the warmer, wet months. Right now there are a lot of butterflies here in Central Florida.

Thanks, Tom... it used to be there but somehow my zone disappeared. I fixed it and hopefully it shows up now. Yup, you're right, I also live in central Florida

I'm so excited about my first tiger swallowtail, Rhonda! I was thinking it was a soldier or a queen. I was sooooo far off lol!

Definitely a female - she's gorgeous!

Sherry

Thanks Sherry. Hopefully she'll lay lots of eggs for me

Do you have a larval plant for tigers, wanna run? I believe in my area, and perhaps in yours, one of the best is the Sweet Bay magnolia. These trees seem to do best in wet or damp conditions. Mine is looking scraggly now due to the lack of rain.

At one time I had a Black Cherry tree, but it died a few years ago. I think they are the ones that tigers use most at a park near my house.

No, Tom. This is my first year really trying to diversify and add more friendly plants. I was looking at some host and nectar plants for various butterflies and thought...I have a long way to go! :). But guess what! Saw a hummer this morning!

She's so beautiful!! I just got started a few years ago trying to attract butterflies and especially Monarchs. Last year they finally showed up here. I have Gulf Frits, Giant Swallowtails, Zebra Longwings and I'm guessing Sulphurs?..smaller yellow butterfies..

Anyhow, which all plants do the Tiger Swallowtails like in Florida? I'm in NE FL. I have some 'wild' magnolias on our property..not sure what kind they are. I think the regular Southern Magnolias they just come up all over the place.

I have 2 different pipevines but I'm not sure if they are the right ones for the Pipevine Swallowtails. The vines get huge and nothing ever eats them.

The best vine to attract both pipevine and polydamas (gold-rim) butterflies in my experience is the Aristolochia Tomentosa also called "Wolly Pipevine." You will most likely need to go online to find some.

Stay away from vines that have red flowers. Most are poisonous to caterpillars of many butterflies.

Unfortunately, the two best host plants for Tiger Swallowtails where I live are both trees--the Sweet Bay Magnolia and the wild Black Cherry tree. I have grown both and have seen caterpillars on the Magnolia. I had a big Black Cherry tree but for some reason it died. I just had it cut down.

The Sweet Bay Magnolias are native here in Florida. One tends to find them near the water in swampy areas. Black Cherry trees come up in different environments, but also seem to do best near water.