Look at his body!

This slightly tattered Eastern Tiger Swallowtail gentleman visited out butterfly bush this afternoon. Males have four tiger stripes on their wings, you can see them in the extra.


The body of a butterfly is covered with extremely small hairs that are used to provide the butterfly with sensory information. Their wings are covered with a skin-like substance that is then covered with scales. Butterflies taste using small sensory hairs on the bottom of their legs.


Butterflies have six jointed legs, a pair of antennae and three body parts called a head, thorax (chest), and abdomen (tail end). The four wings and the six legs of a butterfly are attached to its thorax. Special sensors on a butterfly or moths' feet allow the insect to taste their food.



The thorax, similar to the chest of a person, is generally square in shape. Both pairs of wings are attached to the thorax and they are triangular in shape with one of the points attached to the thorax. The abdomen which is like the lower part of a person's body resembles a rectangle shape.



He was very large( the female is larger) and showed off nicely for my camera. Females may be either yellow or black, making them dimorphic. The yellow morph is similar to the male, but with a conspicuous band of blue spots along the hindwing, while the dark morph is almost completely black.


For the Record,
This day came in with sun and clouds. We did a bit of yard work and things around the house.


All hands enjoyed the three day weekend.