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Giant Swallowtail

Plate XLII — Giant Swallowtail is Fig. 3
Plate XLII — Giant Swallowtail is Fig. 3

Butterfly.--The principal points of difference between this and the preceding species, its closest ally, have already been pointed out, and are brought into view upon the plate.

Early Stages.--These are quite well known. The caterpillar feeds upon Ptelea, Xanthoxylon, and various species of Citrus. It is very common in the orange-groves of Florida, where the people call the caterpillar the "orange-puppy," and complain at times of the ravages perpetrated by it upon their trees. It appears to have been gradually spreading northward, and in quite recent years has appeared at points in the Northern States where before it had never been observed. It has been recently taken Ontario. It has become rather abundant in the vicinity of the city of Pittsburgh, where no observer had seen it prior to the year 1894. It is one of the largest and most showy species of the genus found within our faunal limits.