Black Butterflies

When you think of a butterfly you get instant images of colorful, bright and vibrant looking butterflies fluttering around. Very rarely do we imagine a black butterfly. But surprisingly black butterflies are quite common throughout the United States. The most common of them all are the black swallowtail.

Types of Black Butterflies

Black butterflies are usually large in size therefore they are quite noticeable. They can belong to different species of butterflies and hence it takes a keen observation to identify them. If you see a dark colored butterfly with a thin long tail on the hind wings then it is a black swallowtail.

They are commonly seen in Northwest Arizona, California, and Nevada or on the mountainous regions of the West. The other common black butterflies in the Eastern part of the United States are Red-spotted purple, Mourning Cloak and Spicebush Swallowtail.

Black Swallowtail

Black swallowtail butterflies are very common, yet very pretty and attractive butterflies. They are easy to attract. The caterpillars can also be easily raised. So if you are thinking of creating a butterfly garden, you may have many of these black visitors in your backyard.

Host plants

The host plants of black swallowtails mainly belong to the carrot family. Other host plants that attract these black butterflies are fennel, parsley and dill. These plants are better raised in a pot rather than in the ground. They are easily available at any nursery. It is advisable to purchase plants instead of seeds as it may be difficult to grow from seeds.

Life cycle

* The eggs of black swallowtails are pale or white in color. Females lay them both on top as well as the underside of the host plant leaves. The eggs take around 3-5 days to hatch. They may take longer if the weather is cooler.

* The caterpillar emerges from the egg and feed on the egg shells. Initially the caterpillars are black and have red/orange spikes. As they grow, it changes into white/greenish bands with yellow spots throughout its body.

* When the caterpillars are ready to grow into the pupa stage, they wander away from their host plants. Before that they defecate one last time on the plants to empty out their digestive tracts.

* Once they find a place to pupate they do not move for about 24 hours and then spin themselves to the object they are lying on. After another 24 hours they form into chrysalis which is commonly dark brown in color.

* The adult butterfly emerges after about 9-11 days. They male swallowtail are black in color while the females are a shade of brown or red.

Black butterflies though very commonly visible are very distinctive and attractive which adds beauty to the surroundings full of colorful butterflies.