Attributes of Battus philenor

Pipevine Swallowtail
Battus philenor (Linnaeus, 1771)

Family: Papilionidae
Subfamily: Papilioninae
Identification: Upper surface of hindwing iridescent blue or blue-green. Underside of hindwing with submarginal row of 7 round orange spots in iridescent blue field.
Wing Span: 2 3/4 - 5 inches (7 - 13 cm).
Life History: Adult males patrol likely habitat in search of receptive females. Females lay batches of eggs on underside of host plant leaves. Caterpillars feed in small groups when young but become solitary when older. Wintering is by the chrysalis.
Flight: In the East and California, adults fly primarily in late spring (though as early as late February or March) and summer, but the butterfly is commoner in late summer and fall in the South and Southwest. Where lack of freezing temperatures permit, adults may fly continuously. In lowland tropical Mexico they may be found in any month.
Caterpillar Hosts: Pipevines (Aristolochia species), including Aristolochia californica, A. serpentaria and others.
Adult Food: Solely nectar from flowers including thistles (Cirsium species), bergamot, lilac, viper's bugloss, common azaleas, phlox, teasel, azaleas, dame's-rocket, lantana, petunias, verbenas, lupines, yellow star thistle, California buckeye, yerba santa, brodiaeas, and gilias.
Habitat: A wide variety of open habitats, open woodland, and woodland edges.
Range: Rare stray to Canada (s. Manitoba). Tropical lowlands south to southern Mexico.
Conservation: Normally not of high conservation concern, although states at northern limits have listed under state law. These listings are of dubious value where species is not a permanent resident.
NCGR: G5 - Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
Management Needs: Management of habitats to ensure survival of host plant colonies is the only possible concern.
Taxonomy Notes:

Images of Battus philenor

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Battus philenor - battus_philenor_philenor_egg_raisingbutterflies.jpg

Battus philenor - battus_philenor_philenor_egg_raisingbutterflies.jpg
Battus philenor - battus_philenor_philenor_caterpillar1_raisingbutterflies.jpg

Battus philenor - battus_philenor_philenor_caterpillar1_raisingbutterflies.jpg


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Battus philenor - PipevineSwallowtail-Simons.jpg

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Battus philenor - Battus_philenorDurrenberger.jpg

Battus philenor - Battus_philenorDurrenberger.jpg
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Battus philenor - Battus_philenor-caterpillar-Lytle.jpg

Battus philenor - Battus_philenor-caterpillar-Lytle.jpg





The map below displays all verified sighting records in the BAMONA database for this species. Each record is indicated with a yellow dot. The orange dots on the map provide access to information about the 400 most recently verified sightings of this species. In some instances, there are several records at the same location. Use the table view to access these records.

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By default, the fifty most recently verified sightings are below. Sort by Observation Date to see the most recent sightings, or filter the sightings by region to get a regional list.

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Observation Date Submitter Region Verified Datesort icon
June 08, 2013 Kimberly Mrozinski Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States June 15, 2013 Details
June 08, 2013 Doug Bruce Monroe County, Tennessee, United States June 15, 2013 Details
March 30, 2013 birder89 Lawrence County, Ohio, United States June 13, 2013 Details
May 30, 2013 Jeff Trahan Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States June 04, 2013 Details
May 23, 2013 JimConrad Texas, United States, Uvalde County May 28, 2013 Details
May 14, 2013 gl1der Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States May 21, 2013 Details
May 16, 2013 cmcmorrow1 Solano County, California, United States May 17, 2013 Details
May 12, 2013 JimConrad Texas, United States, Uvalde County May 14, 2013 Details
October 07, 2012 tomfishburn Hocking County, Ohio, United States May 01, 2013 Details
April 24, 2013 treichard Napa County, California, United States April 26, 2013 Details
April 17, 2013 CA Ivy Johnson County, Arkansas, United States April 17, 2013 Details
April 09, 2013 Mike Stinson Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States April 13, 2013 Details
March 22, 2013 Paul Bloch Shasta County, California, United States April 09, 2013 Details
March 22, 2013 Paul Bloch Tehama County, California, United States April 09, 2013 Details
March 17, 2013 Nancy Hamlett Los Angeles County, California, United States March 24, 2013 Details
April 24, 2011 mikechapman Glynn County, Georgia, United States March 17, 2013 Details
February 16, 2013 PDunwiddie Los Angeles County, California, United States February 19, 2013 Details
February 02, 2013 Wallwiz Seminole County, Florida, United States February 11, 2013 Details
May 19, 2012 tjantscher Iowa, United States February 03, 2013 Details
October 19, 2012 CA Ivy Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States January 27, 2013 Details
October 04, 2012 CA Ivy Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States January 03, 2013 Details
August 02, 2010 Debbie Taylor Pope County, Arkansas, United States January 02, 2013 Details
September 15, 1984 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Nye County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
July 09, 1987 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 22, 1990 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
September 14, 1990 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 18, 1989 legacy.reporter (William S. Swisher) Mohave County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 18, 1989 legacy.reporter (William S. Swisher) Maricopa County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 18, 1990 legacy.reporter (William S. Swisher) Maricopa County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
April 24, 1978 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 21, 1978 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
July 25, 1977 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
June 07, 1993 legacy.reporter (Bruce Boyd) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
June 11, 1993 legacy.reporter (Bruce Boyd) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 09, 1993 legacy.reporter (Brent Boyd) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
May 05, 1977 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
June 14, 1977 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
June 26, 1977 legacy.reporter (George T. Austin) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 05, 1972 legacy.reporter (J. F. Lesser) Clark County, Nevada, United States December 01, 2012 Details
April 22, 1996 Ken Davenport (Ken Davenport) Placer County, California, United States December 01, 2012 Details
August 11, 1993 legacy.reporter (Clifford D. Ferris) Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
July 27, 1995 legacy.reporter (Lauritz Muehlbach) Yavapai County, Arizona, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 06, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Perry County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 10, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 18, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Colbert County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 25, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Cleburne County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 28, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Jefferson County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
March 31, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Bibb County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
April 01, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Cleburne County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details
April 12, 2012 vitaly charny (Vitaly Charny) Dallas County, Alabama, United States December 01, 2012 Details