May 2026 Photo Information

Animal and Camera Details

May

Species shown: Swallowtail / Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)

The Old World swallowtail is a butterfly also known as the common yellow swallowtail or simply the swallowtail (a common name applied to all members of the family, but this species was the first to be given the name). This widespread species is found in much of the Palearctic and in North America. One day, a swallowtail came into my garden and laid 23 eggs on three fennel plants. The swallowtail on the photo came out of one of the eggs and found this purple loosestrife, a plant that the species often uses as a source of nectar. July 7th it was sufficiently warm and it flew off.

The photo was taken with Canon EOS R5 with Sigma 150mm, f/4, 1/200s, ISO640