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Common Eastern Swallowtail
Butterfly.--The male is well represented in the plate. The female lacks the bright-yellow band of postmedian spots on the primaries, or they are but faintly indicated. The species is subject to considerable variation in size and the intensity of the markings. A very remarkable aberration in which the yellow spots cover almost the entire outer half of the wings has been found on several occasions, and was named Papilio calverleyi by Grote. The female of this form from the type in the author's collection is represented in Plate XLI, Fig. 6. Expanse, 2.75-3.25 inches.
Early Stages.--The caterpillar feeds on the Umbelliferae, and is common on parsley and parsnips in gardens. In the South I have found that it had a special liking for fennel, and a few plants in the kitchen-garden always fielded me in my boyhood an abundant supply of the larvae.
P.asterias ranges all over the Atlantic States and the valley of the Mississippi.