Ahhhh... that's a favorite... Zebra Swallowtail
Meems

Thanks- It's now a favorite of mine

What was it attracted to in your yard? I have never seen one in my garden.

I've only seen one once in my yard, and he hung around all day, then never returned. I've also wondered what might attract them. Marcia? I've got Zebra longwings, tiger swallowtails, sulphurs and monarchs, so I'm doing something right on the butterfly front. But I'd love to see this guy again.

Susannah

I have no idea what attracted it. I don't have much for flowers right now. It was just in the grass. I think it was injured cause it flew weird.

Like so many other butterfly visitors to my garden, this guy enjoys the Purple Top Verbena.

Great job getting a pic of the butterfly! I saw a zebra swallowtail in my yard a couple of times this summer. Both times they were in the butterfly/bee garden areas of my yard. I tried to take a picture to post but it came out too blurry. Way to go Miranda.

Zebra swallowtails will nectar on lots of things, like most butterflies, but the host plant for them is pawpaw, and those are getting scarcer each year in the wild. If you live in a pine woods area and have pawpaws nearby, you might be lucky to have zebra swallowtails visit your garden. They are definitely declining in numbers, sadly, due to the decline of the wild pawpaw plants.

BTW, don't confuse the zebra swallowtail with the zebra, which used to be named the zebra longwing. (I frankly think leaving off the "longwing" part makes it even more confusing, so I usually dont.) The zebra longwing is our state butterfly, and looks very different from the pretty zebra swallowtails pictured above.

Lovely photos, featherhoof. And congratulations on having them visit your garden. You, too, Sis3. (OOOH, I wish I could get that verbena bonariensis to grow in MY yard. I've had no luck with it at all, and I really love it!

Marcia

This summer I've seen more Tiger Swallowtails and more Giant Swallowtails than ever before, but never the Zebra Swallowtail. They are spectacular and I would love, love, love to see one outside a butterfly encounter.

Kate

Native paw paws are the drawing card. I let a volunteer paw paw remain in my garden for that purpose. I do get Zebra Swallowtails, usually nectaring on trailing lantana and more rarely, on tithonia.

I have not seen a zebra longwing in years, despite the abundance of passiflora around here.

Nell

You know, I must admit, I do not know what a Florida native pawpaw plant is. Does it take up much space? Is it easy to grow/maintain?

I've never seen a Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. How beautiful!

Pawpaws (asimina reticulata) are notoriously hard to transplant and difficult to find at native plant nurseries. Biosphere has had them on occasion, but they have told me they are difficult.

They aren't very large, are often seen blooming along the verges of roads through pinelands, and have a nice, floppy whitish flower on them. There's more than one type, though. I see them most often driving to Gainesville through the Ocala forest.

Picture linked below!

Marcia

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:928558}}

Oooh! How pretty! It looks like a cross between an orchid and a cassia! I wonder why makes them so difficult to cultivate.

Thanks for the info!

There are a good number of them growing in our empty lot in E Punta Gorda. The lot is an old pasture, no trees.