Anise Swallowtail, Papilio zelicaon

Habitat of the Anise Swallowtail

The Anise Swallowtail prefers moister habitats than the Wright's Swallowtail, a similar species found more in the desert regions of California.

Adult food sources utilized by the Anise Swallowtail

The Anise Swallowtail likes lots of kinds of flowers in a native garden. To attract it just plant a native perennial garden with plants from your area. Below an Anise Swallowtail sips from a Penstemon pseudospectabilis. They also like the Western hop tree and Holly leaf cherry flowers.

The Anise Swallowtail butterfly can be distinguished from other swallow tails by the large amount of black on the front portion of the fore wing and the amount of blue on the hind wing.

Larval food sources utilized by the Anise Swallowtail

This butterfly favors plants in the Apiaceae family. Many native plant species have been reduced in number, such as Lomatium spp. The original areas had many more native plants than exist now, many of the areas have been completely replaced with weeds like Anise. They can now be seen feeding on non-native fennels, carrots, and similar species. This species has adapted, many other native insects, birds and other wildlife have not. The people that named this also named the planet Uranus, after someone else found it. But, then again I guess Apiaceae Butterfly is not as catchy.

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