Giant Swallowtails at Point Pelee

[Alan Wormington]

Giant Swallowtails are very common here at Point Pelee where they are a
permanent resident with two complete broods and a partial third each
year.  It is not uncommon to see 30+ per day here, and the maximum
one-day count is 73.  The reason for the high concentration is the
abundance of Hop Tree here, a favourite larval foodplant.

Alan Wormington,
Leamington, Ontario

On Fri, 29 Sep 2000 19:16:47 -0400 "Eric or Pat Metzler"
<spruance at infinet.com> writes:
> Giant Swallowtails occur regularly, less than 80 miles away, across 
> the
> pond, Lake Erie, in Ohio.  Also, this butterfly is a denizen of 
> calcarious
> soils, something that is all too common at Point Pelee.  So, the 
> find,
> always exciting, should not be too unusual.
> 
> Cheers too all as the weather in this part of the country turns 
> cooler,
> Eric Metzler
> Columbus Ohio
> 
> 
> "Pierre A Plauzoles" <plauzolesp at bigvalley.net> wrote in message
> news:39D4D14E.588C66B6 at bigvalley.net...
> > Bret Murray wrote:
> >
> > > I beleive you are right P crephontes giant swal.  A bit unusual 
> to find
> so far
> > > north unless someone was rearing and released them. I dont think 
> they
> survive
> > > winter so far north.
> >
> > It could have been blown north by storm winds.  I think it occurs
> naturally within
> > some 200 miles.  Check with a natural history museum or academic
> entomology
> > department on that to be sure.
> >
> > > "S.M.L." wrote:
> > >
> > > > I am not presently involved in the study of butterflies, but 
> having
> acquired
> > > > a digital camera recently, I have been experimenting with 
> taking macro
> > > > photographs of insects. I was fortunate enough to get three 
> reasonably
> good
> > > > shots of a butterfly on a beach while visiting Point Pelee 
> National
> Park in
> > > > S. W. Ontario on August 11, 2000. My curiosity was raised, 
> having
> never seen
> > > > this species of butterfly before. A quick search on the web 
> identified
> it as
> > > > a type of swallowtail and I believe it to be a Giant 
> Swallowtail, but
> I
> > > > couldn't find a good enough photo on the web to be sure. If 
> someone
> could
> > > > help me to ID this butterfly, I would appreciate it greatly. 
> If anyone
> would
> > > > like full size copies of these photos (approx. 1600x1200 
> pixels and
> > > > 350-400kb) I would be happy to e-mail them.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > >
> > > > Steve Loxton
> > > >
> > > > sluggo7 at hotmail.com
> > > >
> > > >  [Image]
> > > >
> > > >  [Image]
> > > >
> > > >  [Image]
> >
> 

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