2017 Photograph, Eastern Tiger Swallowtails (Papilio glaucus, Swallowtail Butterfly Family, Papilionidae) on Leafcup, Occoquan Bay NWR, Woodbridge, Virginia, © 2023.
An interesting side-line on this butterfly is its scientific name. "Glaucus" means bluish-gray in Latin. Linnaeus, who established the scientific name, had a black form female which he used in naming the species based on her color. Even though the majority of females and all males are the typical tiger-stripe form, the name had been established and the Tiger has been, scientifically speaking, the Bluish-gray Swallowtail ever since. |
