Natural History

The Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly is a mostly yellow butterfly with narrow black stripes and blue eyespots near the tail. The eyespots can fool predators into attacking the rear of the butterfly instead of the head, giving the butterfly a chance to escape. It grows to 2.75 - 5.25 inches in width and is similar to the Western Tiger Swallowtail, but has thinner and fewer black stripes on the wings and the hind wing has two tails.
 

The butterfly can be found throughout Arizona except in the extreme west and southwest (it can also be found in: CA, NM, UT, CO and NV) and typically lives in canyons and cities at lower elevations. Adults fly from late February to mid-November. Host plants include: chokecherry, bitter cherry, Arizona rosewood, single-leaf ash, hoptree and Arizona Sycamore.