Schaus’ Swallowtail
Chocolate-brown wings crossed by yellow bands move through tropical hammock where torchwood and wild lime feed caterpillars.
Artwork inspired by Laura Woodward
Schaus’ swallowtails need intact hardwood hammock and a sequence of native nectar and larval host plants. Hurricanes, drought, pesticide drift, invasive plants, and habitat fragmentation can affect every life stage.
Conservation breeding and releases have supported recovery, but public access to colonies remains sensitive. Learn torchwood and wild lime, scan flowering canopy edges from authorized trails, and never handle a slow or grounded butterfly.
- U.S. range
- Florida Keys
- Host plants
- Torchwood and wild lime
- Conservation
- Captive releases
Quick guide
- Read the band
- A broad creamy-yellow diagonal stripe crosses dark wings without long tails.
- Learn two hosts
- Torchwood and wild lime are central larval food plants.
Recognize it through habitat and behavior
- Read the band
- A broad creamy-yellow diagonal stripe crosses dark wings without long tails.
- Learn two hosts
- Torchwood and wild lime are central larval food plants.
- Scan hammock edges
- Adults move through sunlit gaps and flowering canopy margins.
- Leave it untouched
- Protected butterflies and host plants must not be collected.
Good to know
The giant swallowtail is more widespread and can appear similar in fast flight. Clear pattern photographs and expert confirmation are needed where ranges overlap.