Old World swallowtail

Elegant and colorful butterfly 🦋🌸
The Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon) belongs to the Papilionidae family, which includes numerous splendid tropical butterflies. In fact, this beautiful butterfly stands out for its large size (with a wingspan ranging from 7 to 9 cm), vibrant colors, and graceful shapes.
Its wings are yellow with black outlines and patterns, adorned with a shimmering blue band that contains a red “eye” and end with two long “tails.”
The swallowtail frequents meadows and open, sunny environments, including city parks.
The caterpillar of the swallowtail 🐛 is light green with black and orange spots, and it feeds on wild carrots 🥕 and other umbelliferous plants. The adult butterfly feeds on flower nectar 🌺🌸 and plays an important role in pollination.
⁉️ Did you know? 😲
When disturbed, the caterpillars release from behind their heads a type of pungent-smelling orange horns 😈 to scare off potential predators.