Master of Mimicry

A Spicebush Swallowtail visiting the flowers of a Pagoda plant in our backyard. The Spicebush is a common North American black swallowtail butterfly. Of its two subspecies, this is Papilio troilus ilioneus, the one found mainly in the Florida peninsula. The Spicebush swallowtail avoids predators through mimicry. The adult looks like the toxic Pipevine swallowtail. Its caterpillar at first looks very much like bird poop. Then it develops large false 'eyes' to scare off predators. Spicebush swallowtail caterpillars