Black swallowtails follow up ..

One of our cocoons hatched today and a beautiful butterfly came out.. 
It was such a great experience and the kids were so happy and proud.. The kids took there turn to gently hold her and observe her and then we put it out side on a lemon tree and about one hour later it flew of...

Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, which includes over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family occur on every continent except Antarctica.

Food: caterpillars will only eat the foliage of a group of plants called umbellifers - a group that includes carrot, fennel and angelica, but they show a marked preference for milk parsley. Adults feed on nectar from a variety of flowers.

The swallowtail is Britain's largest and most exotic butterfly. Its name refers to the extensions on the hind-wings which look rather like a swallow's tail. These 'tails' and false 'eyes' on the hind-wing mimic the head and antennae (feelers) of the butterfly. This confuses birds as to the true head of their prey and gives the swallowtail a better chance of escaping. Sadly, this beautiful butterfly is extremely rare in Britain.