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misssherryg

Unusual Female Tiger Swallowtail

MissSherry
10 years ago

I was walking down my road today and noticed a strange looking butterfly. She went back and forth, back and forth and finally landed on the joe-pye-weed that grows in a wet spot roadside -

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This picture that shows her undersides reveals that she has a black body like a black form tiger. I've seen a female tiger that looked like she had a yellow veil over her black body, and I've seen a yellow one that had unusually thick stripes, but I've never seen one like this!

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Sherry

Comments (16)

  • bob_71
    10 years ago

    Sherry...I thought changing her mind was a woman's right? The variations that occur in nature keep a guy like me unsure with every ID that I try!

    Thanks for all your observations and input!

    Bob

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks, Bob!

    Sherry

  • suzannie41
    10 years ago

    That is so cool sherry...almost looks like two butterflies in one, a smaller one on top of a larger one.

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    According to what I've been reading, these are called 'transitional morphs' - they're partially yellow form and partially black form, weird!

    Sherry

  • bandjzmom
    10 years ago

    WOW!!! So cool! I was going to say that maybe she was really supposed to be a dark form female and then changed her mind at the last minute! Awesome find!

  • wifey2mikey
    10 years ago

    She is very beautiful indeed!

    Thanks for sharing your picture. :-)

    `Laura

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks all!

    I was working outside today, and when I passed by the joe-pye-weed, there she was again!

    {{gwi:512157}}

    I think I'm smitten with her! I wonder if she could be the mother of the two tiger cats I'm raising? Hmmmm........I'd like some more of these strange looking gals! :)

    Sherry

  • Tony G
    10 years ago

    wow, very cool Sherry. Wonders never cease in the butterfly garden! Tony

  • butterflymomok
    10 years ago

    Sherry, someone on Butterfly Enthusiasts on Facebook posted a photo of another unusual female Tiger Swallowtail, which reminded me of this photo that I took in 2010. I think there is a lot of variation in ETB females. Possibly because there are two forms which makes the likelihood of different combinations occurring. Here is the photo of the female that caught my attention.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Unusual female

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, the fact that female tigers have the two color forms undoubtedly accounts for the different looks.
    The female in your picture has a yellow cell spot. Four or five years ago, one like visited my garden -

    {{gwi:474306}}

    Sherry

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Morpho girl is still here, now she's nectaring on the Ellen's Blue butterfly bush.

    A yellow form female showed up today, and she was HUGE!! If she comes back, I think I'm going to run out with a tape measure to see what her wing span is! I got her picture -

    {{gwi:503561}}

    Sherry

  • butterflymomok
    10 years ago

    She's a beauty, Sherry.

  • alch21
    10 years ago

    Congrats on your beauty ! Fantastic picture ! The tigers have been plentiful here in SC in the past couple of weeks after months of no show. There are HUGE this year !

  • MissSherry
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    They are plentiful here, now, too.

    I went out to the garden a little while ago with a ruler in hand. There were two tigers there, a male and the big yellow female. I measured the male first, because he was closer at hand, and he was 5" across, big enough. Most of the time, the female wouldn't hold her wings all the way open for more than a nanosecond, so it took me a while to measure her. She measured 6" across, and she is probably a little bigger, because her wings weren't totally open - I got tired of chasing her around the lantana. I'd guess her wing span to really be 6 1/4" - 6 1/2" - those tigers are impressive!

    Sherry

  • tnu07mom
    10 years ago

    I saw my first Dark Eastern Swallowtail yesterday. I may have seen one before and just didn't realize it. Today, I saw two more. The Eastern Swallowtails are everywhere right now, and I agree, they are huge this year. The dark one yesterday was easy to follow because it was so large. It was almost like following a small bird through the garden.

  • Leafhead
    10 years ago

    Send some of those beauties this way. We've been shy of ETSs this year...