Here's a picture of a giant swallowtail egg - they vary in color from greenish orange to bright orange -

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This isn't a very good picture of a giant swallowtail hatchling, but you can see the general brown color with the yellow on the tail -

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Here's another close-up picture I made of a giant swallowtail hatchling eating its egg. You can see little 'spikes' on its head that tigers don't have -

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As far as I know, tiger swallowtail eggs are always green. They blend in with the leaves they're laid on -

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Tiger hatchlings are dark, but they have the white saddle right out of the egg. They look like black swallowtails do in their early instars -

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Ptelea trifoliata is second only to wild black cherry for the number of tiger eggs/cats I've found on it. I've found a few on low hanging branches of tulip tree and sweetbay magnolia (once).

Congratulations on your caterpillars! I think I saw a giant swallowtail flying through today, but it flew through so fast, it may have been a yellow tiger. I'd love to raise giant swallowtails again!

Sherry

Thanks so much for your pics and descriptions! I guess I have been blessed with both... my new babies look spikey and have the extra yellow on the back end. If I am correct I have 6 Tigers from the first batch, and 11 GSTs in this batch. Yippee!!