COMMON SWALLOWTAIL
This gorgeous butterfly is always on the move and can travel several kilometres without stopping. As it is continually moving, stopping only briefly, it is supposedly a difficult butterfly to photograph. The swallowtails I photographed must have been tired as they posed nicely for me.
The common swallowtail is yellow with black markings and red spots at the base of the wings. Both sexes are similar in appearance and have an overall wingspan of 75mm. The caterpillar, which is partial to fennel, has a defensive organ called the osmeterium which it thrusts out when disturbed, they look like small antenna.
They prefer dry wooded slopes, sandy areas, lush meadows and marshes. I have spotted them around lakes near Poros and in the scrubland behind the beach at Katelios.
