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You know what it looks like… but what is it called?
TAKE THE QUIZblack swallowtail
noun
: a usually dark-colored New World swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) having yellow spots on the wing margins and a black spot centered within a larger orange spot on the hind wing inner edge
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
In July, the butterflies finally arrived: tiger swallowtail, monarch, black swallowtail, and cloudless sulphur.
Lauren Matison, Outside Online, 12 Oct. 2022
There’s a pollinator bed, which is meant to attract mainly bees and wasps — but which also attracts black swallowtail caterpillars.
Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2022
Golden Alexanders is a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly.
Jennifer Rude Klett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2021
Certain pollinators like certain plants, such as black swallowtail butterflies that like dill.
Lynn Coulter, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 June 2021
This is, indeed, a black swallowtail, a good native butterfly.
Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 6 Aug. 2020
In most San Antonio landscapes, expect the black swallowtail to also find your parsley and hatch some hungry caterpillars to feed on the foliage.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 25 June 2020
The black swallowtails are harvesting nectar from the small yellow blooms.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 30 Apr. 2020
Queen, Gulf fritillary, black swallowtail, giant swallowtail, sulfur, red admiral, American beauty and other species of butterflies are flying right now in area landscapes.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 13 Sep. 2019
See More
Lauren Matison, Outside Online, 12 Oct. 2022
There’s a pollinator bed, which is meant to attract mainly bees and wasps — but which also attracts black swallowtail caterpillars.
Adriana Pérez, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2022
Golden Alexanders is a host plant for the black swallowtail butterfly.
Jennifer Rude Klett, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 16 Sep. 2021
Certain pollinators like certain plants, such as black swallowtail butterflies that like dill.
Lynn Coulter, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 June 2021
This is, indeed, a black swallowtail, a good native butterfly.
Ellen Nibali, baltimoresun.com, 6 Aug. 2020
In most San Antonio landscapes, expect the black swallowtail to also find your parsley and hatch some hungry caterpillars to feed on the foliage.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 25 June 2020
The black swallowtails are harvesting nectar from the small yellow blooms.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 30 Apr. 2020
Queen, Gulf fritillary, black swallowtail, giant swallowtail, sulfur, red admiral, American beauty and other species of butterflies are flying right now in area landscapes.
Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 13 Sep. 2019
See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'black swallowtail.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
First Known Use
1840, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of black swallowtail was
in 1840
Dictionary Entries Near black swallowtail
Cite this Entry
“Black swallowtail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/black%20swallowtail. Accessed 7 Dec. 2022.
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