Home » Florida Photographic Butterfly Guide » Swallowtails and Parnassians » Black Swallowtail

There are 3 major black-ish Swallowtails in Florida.  Black, Pipevine and Spicebush.  They can be difficult to separate at times.  First the Black is smaller in general.  They all have spots on their bodies…  The Black male has significant yellow above so that separates that out from the other 2.  The Female however looks somewhat like the Spicebush feamle or even the Pipevine. The key is now the rows of orange spots on the underside of the hind-wing. The Pipevine has 1 row only. The Spicebush has 2 rows with a Blue spot erupting clear through the inner row and  completely replacing the middle hind-wing spot.  The Black has 2 rows of orange spots with no such blue eruption.