I've got a pretty one for you today. This is a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) that came to my garden as I was watering my plants. As you can see, this particular butterfly is very showy. As with a number of brightly colored insects and bugs, the Pipevine is poisonous to eat, so predators learn to stay away.
The Pipevine Swallowtail is in the papilioninae sub-family and inhabits Central America and much of North America.
The adult butterfly can be identified by its metallic blue to blue-green hindwings above and its 7 highly visible orange spots over a blue background on the underside hindwings. The caterpillar is a nasty looking thing; all reddish brown (almost black looking) with rows of red or black tubercles (tubercles look like little spines) on its back.
A female lays eggs on the undersides of leaves. The caterpillars feed on this host plant when young. Eventually they form a protective covering called a chrysalis so they can survive the winter and transform into a butterfly that emerges in the spring.
The adults feed on nectar from a range of flowers, many of which are found in gardens. Find out more about this exquisite butterfly at such Internet sites as www.butterfliesandmoths.org.
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