March 25, 2005
Anise Swallowtail
Today, while operating the Neawanna Bird Banding Station, we found an early ANISE SWALLOWTAIL (Papilio zelicaon) nectaring on Black Twinberry (Lonicera involucrata). The twinberry is probably one of the two most important early blooming nectaring species for West Coast Rufous Hummingbirds [the other being Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)].
Anise Swallowtail does not start showing up in numbers before mid-May, well after the peak for twinberry, which is perhaps the reason why we've not noted this before. The swallowtail showed considerable wear at the points of the forewings indicating that it's probably been active for at least a week.... very early.
Posted by mbalame at March 25, 2005 11:14 PM