This swallowtail is the species of swallowtails that I see most often in my garden – and I still like it! 🙂 You can see the many that I’ve photographed in my Polydamas SwallowtailGallery (linked). The scientific name is Battus polydamas and even though most of the other swallowtails are more colorful, he/she is striking! (Male & female are basically identical). Here’s a front view and a side view and you can see several top views in the above-linked gallery which is all black with a yellow dot row. This is my first one to photograph outside my garden. He is found from South Texas and Florida south to Argentina.
Polydamas Swallowtail, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limó, Costa RicaPolydamas Swallowtail, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limó, Costa Rica
I’m not sure that I can explain why, but these Polydamas Swallowtails reminded me of flying acrobats or dancers as they swoop in and out of the flowers for their feeding. Fun to watch! 🙂 They are Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas (link to my Polydamas GALLERY with many more shots of their graceful flying and perching).
Three shots and three different impressions of what a Polydamas Swallowtail, Battus polydamas “looks like” in three photos from my garden below, plus you can see more in my Polydamas Swallowtail Gallery.
I see many more of these large butterflies during the rainy season, but the other day this one was flitting about the different flowers in my garden in spite of the wind! He has to eat, windy or not! 🙂
This is another Polydamas Swallowtail like I showed before my trip, but the underside of his wings here are more obviously brown than the others which were dominated by black. It could be because I had better light, but it still seems somewhat like a different species. Polydamas Swallowtail (butterfliesandmoths.org) for descriptions, locations, etc. and you can compare all of my many photos of this species in myPolydamas Swallowtail Gallery. And it is interesting to note that all of my photos were made in my garden.
Mid-morning as I walked through the garden, June 15, these two different species of Swallowtails were the only ones flitting around the flowers or mainly just the Porter Weeds. Neither are new to me and in fact you can see that I have better photos in their respective Photo Galleries:
One of my regular butterflies that I never tire of. His bright red spots make up for his otherwise drab appearance. Polydamas Swallowtail on butterfliesandmoths.org and check out my Gallery Polydamas Swallowtail. That’s 7 years worth all from my garden!
The Polydamas Swallowtail (Link to butterfliesandmoths.org) seems to be one of the most common in my garden and one of first showing up early this year! 🙂 I have 28 photos in my Polydamas Swallowtail Gallery, all made in my garden! 🙂
Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Unlike other butterflies here, I have no photos from my many visits to other locations in Costa Rica. These photos were made day before yesterday, May 6, which means it is early for a lot of butterflies, other than Yellows flitting about, and in past years butterflies have peaked at my house in June & July. I’m located in the western foothills of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. I have a trip north of here next week and hope for some different early butterflies there and then on my July trip is to the southwest of the country, maybe something new there, I hope! 🙂
Costa Rica has an incredible variety of butterflies as a part of more than 300,000 insect species, the most for any country it’s size. Part of that is due to our location as a “connecting bridge” of land between North and South America. The above butterfly website shows this particular Swallowtail appearing across the Southern U.S. and throughout Central America and the Caribbean Islands.
Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Possibly the most common butterfly in my garden though certainly not the most colorful! But at least I’m out in the garden again! 🙂 To see other photos I’ve made of this species, my Polydamas Swallowtail Gallery or for more butterflies see my Butterflies of Costa Rica Galleries! 126+ 🙂
Yawn! Not much going on yesterday! So I walked out into the garden and snapped some butterfly photos. None new, but I like this shot of the Brown Longtail and equally the Cloudless Sulphur shot, which is found from Canada to South America by the way! 🙂 No usable shots of the many Giant Whites I saw but I included a shot of an injured or damaged Polydamas Swallowtail, since broken wings seem common among most butterflies. Life can be harsh, even for a butterfly! 🙂
