The Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly species was identified in September by Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department biologists. 1934 was the last Maine sighting of the butterfly. The recent finding was in the hardwood swamps of Berwick and Wells.
The caterpillar eats the leaves of sassafras and spicebush plants.
“This is now officially one of the largest, most colorful butterflies in the state, and somehow it slipped under our radar screen for the past 75 years,’’ said Phillip deMaynadier, the biologist who rediscovered the species.
The butterfly lives in the Eastern US and parts of Ontario.
Image Credit: Spicebush Swallowtail Wikipedia, and Poppy2323
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Jake Richardson
Hello, I have been writing online for some time, and enjoy the outdoors.
3 Responses to Rare Butterfly Rediscovered in Maine
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@ tom: Yes, they can also be yellow. The caterpillar should look like the above picture but the greens would be yellow. This occurs right before the caterpillar sheds it’s exoskeleton for the last time to become the chrysalis. The spicebush swallowtails are not uncommon in MA, southern NH was considered their absolute northern limit on the east coast.
i see them all the time
Are the spicebush swallowtail caterpillar also yellow. My son found one in 1998 in our back yard in Attleboro, MA.