Butterfly Profile: Giant Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio cresphontes)
All about the big and beautiful swallowtail species called Giant Swallowtail, and ways to support and encourage this butterfly to the yard. The Giant Swallowtail is a very unique and fascinating swallowtail species due to it’s size, the colouration on their wings, how they protect themselves out in nature, and the very cool stages that they go through in the life cycle. You will learn a lot about this butterfly species and how to support it in the backyard, and you will uncover the secrets that this butterfly has hidden within it.
Common Name: Giant Swallowtail Butterfly
Scientific Name: Papilio cresphontes
Other Names: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Western Tiger Swallowtail
Genus: Papilio
Family: Swallowtail Butterfly Family
Description: The giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) is huge when it comes to butterflies, and it is one of the biggest swallowtail species. This butterfly is mostly black in colour, with some yellow markings on it’s wings.
Native Range: Southern New England across the northern Great Lakes States, into the southern part of Ontario, Quebec, other parts of Canada, and through the southern portions of the Central Plains to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Open Woodlands, nearby fields, cities, suburbs, towns, swamps, marshes, bogs, and citrus groves in the south.
Life Cycle Of The Giant Swallowtail
freshly laid Giant Swallowtail egg
Photo Credits: seem-em from iNaturalist
A Giant Swallowtail egg almost ready to hatch Photo Credits: clenoble on iNaturalist
Egg: The eggs of the Giant Swallowtail are small where they’re about 1 mm in size. They have a brown or sometimes an orange appearance. The females lay their eggs singly on top of the foliage and twigs of their host plants. A few hours before the eggs hatch, the caterpillar that is inside each egg is visible from the outside. The egg stage of the life cycle of a giant swallowtail lasts 4 to 10 days, and this depends on the temperature outside as well as the host plant that the female laid the eggs on.
A young Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar
Photo Credits: ashleybosarge from iNaturalist
An older Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar
Photo Credits: alokk from iNaturalist
An older Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar relaxing on a branch with it's scent glands out.
Caterpillar: The caterpillars of Giant Swallowtail Butterflies look a lot like bird droppings. First instar caterpillars are around 2.5 to 3 mm long, and this is just after they have hatched out of their eggs. There is a pattern on their backs which is dark, light, dark, and light. The pattern on their bodies appear more visible as they grow. As these caterpillars grow into more instars they don’t change as much, like other caterpillars of different butterfly species. When they reach their fifth instar the caterpillars do change their appearance, from what they looked like in earlier instars. Their colouring is more white, light brown, and dark brown all throughout their body. Their body has a saddle pattern on the back. The caterpillar stage in the life cycle of a giant swallowtail butterfly is 3 to 4 weeks.
A Giant Swallowtail Chrysalis
Photo Credits: Xi Wang
Chrysalis: The chrysalis of a giant swallowtail adopts a brown, mottled appearance blending in with its surroundings. The chrysalis stage in the life cycle of a giant swallowtail is about 10 to 20 days, but some giant swallowtails will overwinter as their chrysalids in which this stage will last longer than 10 to 20 days.
💛 Create a butterfly habitat for giant swallowtail butterflies that will support them in all of the stage in their life cycle.
💛 Plant one or both of their native host plants on your property so the female giant swallowtails have a place to lay their eggs, and to provide food for the caterpillars once they hatch.
💛 Plant one or two of their non native host plants on your property so the female giant swallowtails have another option to lay their eggs, and for the caterpillars to have another source of food if they need it.
💛 Plant a few native flowering plants such as Swamp Milkweed, Spotted Joe Pye Weed, Dense Blazing Star, Tall Ironweed, Wild Bergamot, Common Milkweed, and Pale Purple Coneflower for the giant swallowtails on your property to provide some of their favourite nectar sources so they can receive proper nutrients and proteins from the nectar.
💛 Plant a few of the non native flowering plants on your property for the giant swallowtails such as Maltese Cross, Indian Blanket Flower, and Mealy Blue Sage to provide extra nectar for the butterflies and so they have other options to choose from when it comes to nectar.
💛 Plant a few of the annual flowers such as Sunflowers, Lantana, Zinnia, Mexican Sunflowers, and Verbena on your property to provide more options of flowers and nectar for the mature adult Giant Swallowtails.
💛 Plant one or two native ornamental grasses such Big Bluestem or Switchgrass, or even plant one or two native shrubs such as Red Osier Dogwood or Pagoda Dogwood to provide shelter for Giant Swallowtails during inclement weather and to hide from their natural predators.
💛 Add several flat rocks on your property throughout the gardens and yard in sunny locations, to provide basking spots for the mature adult giant swallowtails to use when they’re wanting to sun bask in sunny locations.
💛 Establish a ‘butterfly puddling’ area in your backyard. Select a shallow, flat dish or container and fill it with non-sterilized soil or sand. Incorporate a few flat rocks to serve as resting spots for the butterflies. Add water to the dish or container until the soil is moist but not flooded. Lastly, lightly sprinkle some sea salt on the surface. If you don’t have sea salt, regular salt will do. This setup will attract butterflies and provide them with essential minerals they need for survival. Remember to keep the soil moist and replenish the sea salt periodically.*
💛 Add a butterfly feeding station to your property by using a flat plate or plant saucer. Place slices of fermented fruit such as bananas
oranges 
, and watermelon 
on the the flat plate or plant saucer. This set up will attract Giant Swallowtails, and other butterflies to the feeding station to drink the juices from the rotting fruit to get extra nutrients and protein. Remember to change the fruit out every now and then, to provide fresh fruit for the butterflies and to prevent any unwanted visitors from coming around. *💛 Hold off on garden clean up and yard clean up till late spring of the following year when temperatures are above 10 degrees Celsius during the day and night.
💛 Let your gardens and yard be wild. By doing this it will let wildflowers and plants to grow in the grass and garden such as Wild Violets and Clover which will provide a source of nectar for giant swallowtails, other species of butterflies, and other pollinators. Once you have let the flowers grow and bloom, you can remove them from the yard and property to make space for other plants.
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