Melanie on Nostr: Need help w butterfly ID 📷 Okay, so what the heck is this? 5 different butterfly ...

Need help w butterfly ID 📷

Okay, so what the heck is this? 5 different butterfly guides aren't getting me anywhere & my head is gonna explode (lol).

Ordinarily I would confidently say this is a Spicebush Swallowtail. Double row of orange spots + one missing; large crescent-shaped marginal spots; hindwing shading is right.

Except...

It's way too yellow & there's a double row of forewing spots. I mean, has anyone ever seen a Spicebush this yellow?

And is that top orange spot on the hindwing normal for a Spicebush? I've never seen that & only one of my guides even indicates it.

It can't be a Black Swallowtail. The missing spot on the hindwing is wrong, there's no blue on the dorsal side & the subapical spot is missing.

It can't be a Palamedes. The body & entire ventral hindwing is wrong.

Nothing else even comes close.

I'm out of options. So it's gotta be a Spicebush... right? 🥴

***SE Texas/Gulf Coast region

#butterfly #Swallowtail #Lepidoptera #entomology #NaturePhotography