Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar

Spicebush Swallowtail is a fairly black swallowtail butterfly. And it is the state butterfly of Mississippi. But it looks the best when it is still a caterpillar.

The caterpillars live in folded leaf shelters and eat the leaves of the sassafras or spicebush. Adults consume a variety of nectars, including those from azalea, Japanese honeysuckle, milkweed, and thistle flowers.

Both sexes are thought to be edible mimics of the distasteful Pipevine Swallowtail.