Tuesday, October 15, 2024

October 15, 2024

I am a Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly
I'm pretty, but don't eat me or my young
Aristolochic acid is lethal
To critters and people
And would be the last thing to touch your tongue.

(To quote the linked article, "The caterpillars of the Pipevine Swallowtail feed on the poisonous host plant, Aristolochia, also known as the pipevine [which] contains the lethal toxin aristolochic acid.")

Location: Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, NC

Sources: https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17456

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

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