PIPEVINE SWALLOWTAIL (Battus philenor philenor)

Flight Period: Two or three broods from April through October.  Males patrol all day to seek females near their host plant and on hilltops.  The distasteful host plant (pipevine), of its larvae, give the adult a bitter taste, prompting birds to avoid it.  A subspecies known as the hairy pipevine (Battus philenor hirsutus) is found in central California, along the coast, the Sierra Nevada foothills, and north to the Oregon border. 

Range: Lower Southwest, along the Gulf states, as far north as Maine, and south to Veracruz, Mexico where it is multiple brooded. 

Host Plants: Aristolochiaceae (pipevine).

Wing Span: 2 3/4 - 3 3/8" (70 - 86 mm).