Caterpillar foods: Birches and Aspens, also possibly cherry, ash and willow – it would be interesting to raise some to see what they will eat as compared to Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars

This used to be considered a subspecies of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).  Since about 1991 it’s been considered a full species.  The two species are very similar, and for a long time I didn’t realize that we had any Canadian Swallowtails here.  This winter I was looking back through my photos, and realized that some were probably P. canadensis.  Mike Reese has confirmed that these two are P. canadensis.

Mike’s site has side by side photos of the two species showing the differences.

These are my confirmed Canadian Swallowtail sightings:

May 25, 2008

Same individual – May 25, 2008

May 31, 2006