The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is one of our most common butterflies and is found east of the Mississippi River and west into the Great Plains states.

The swallowtail was not the intended target of the spraying. Rather, it was collateral damage in the state’s battle to slow the spread of the tree-destroying gypsy moth caterpillar.

Six species of swallowtail butterflies occur locally, and they combine yellow, black, orange. blue and red in several diverse patterns that invariably catch the eye. We can marvel at them, but our ...