First!, Pt. 2 - _TNY_2853
Spring and early summer was not very good at all where my mother-in-law lives outside Härnösand, Sweden, so much of the insect life has gotten off to a late start this year (ie 2025).
This turned out very fortunate for me on July 16th as this female common yellow swallowtail (Papilio machaon) dropped by to lay her eggs in the garden!
I have never been around here (this is 500 km north of where we live) to see one as they usually do that earlier in the season, only the caterpillars as they grow so here is finally my first P. machaon photo posted!
This female was rather worn and on top of being more white than yellow by now, she had also lost most of her left hind wing - something that didn't stop her at all from depositing her eggs, one by one all over the dill. My MIL immediately decided that she could sow more dill seeds and dedicate the current one to the caterpillars which made me happy. Most of the catepillars from the previous years have been munching on the large leaves of the purple angelica (Angelica gigas), but I didn't see her lay any eggs on those today.
The second time it came around, I managed to photograph it both on a red clover and here on a melancholy thistle (Cirsium helenioides) - complimenting the pale butterfly very nicely.
The plant it was sitting on in part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54658270242/ is a great coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima).
First!, Pt. 2 - _TNY_2853
Spring and early summer was not very good at all where my mother-in-law lives outside Härnösand, Sweden, so much of the insect life has gotten off to a late start this year (ie 2025).
This turned out very fortunate for me on July 16th as this female common yellow swallowtail (Papilio machaon) dropped by to lay her eggs in the garden!
I have never been around here (this is 500 km north of where we live) to see one as they usually do that earlier in the season, only the caterpillars as they grow so here is finally my first P. machaon photo posted!
This female was rather worn and on top of being more white than yellow by now, she had also lost most of her left hind wing - something that didn't stop her at all from depositing her eggs, one by one all over the dill. My MIL immediately decided that she could sow more dill seeds and dedicate the current one to the caterpillars which made me happy. Most of the catepillars from the previous years have been munching on the large leaves of the purple angelica (Angelica gigas), but I didn't see her lay any eggs on those today.
The second time it came around, I managed to photograph it both on a red clover and here on a melancholy thistle (Cirsium helenioides) - complimenting the pale butterfly very nicely.
The plant it was sitting on in part 1 here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/54658270242/ is a great coneflower (Rudbeckia maxima).