Papilio glaucus

[kevinkk]

My sister in North Carolina took this picture. Is the amount of blue on the hind wings normal ? Perhaps it's just the lighting.
I get bug photos from the east now and then, the last one was a katydid riding the windshield...can't you just reach out and grab it
for me?

[Chuck]

Spectacular photo. The lighting is perfect to show off the blue. And yes, they have that much blue; so much in fact it goes up the margin of the FW. This is of course a female, the males don't have as much blue (or, more commonly, none at all.)

[58chevy]

I used a female P. glaucus maynardi specimen as a model for a painting I did (see Insect Art, "Butterflies & Bees" on this forum). The blue was just as extensive as on this photo. Not all females have this much blue, however.

[mothman55]

That's a lot of blue, and very bright blue. Beautifull.

[Chuck]

In my observation, the brightest (most blue) females tend to be from the mid Atlantic area: NC, VA. In other areas, the blue is as bright but not as extensive. In appalachiensis the blue in each cell fades as it approaches the veins, whereas in ssp. maynardi the blue in each cell is often separated by distinct black at the vein, not unlike, but generally more distinct than, appalachiensis.

[kevinkk]

Thanks for the replies. Here in the west, I'm don't think that Papilio rutulus has the variety of subspecies that glaucus does.
I'll pass along the comments to my sister, the family are vicarious entomologists