Art Shapiro's Butterfly Site

By Kathy Keatley Garvey
August 19th, 2009

Special to The Enterprise

It's almost as UC Davis butterfly expert Arthur Shapiro has a "tiger by the tail."

In this case, it's the Western tiger swallowtail butterfly (Papilio rutulus), back in the Davis area after a 15-year hiatus.

Shapiro, a professor of evolution and ecology at UCD, says the Western tiger, one of the largest and showiest of butterflies, "was relatively common in Davis until the early 1990s, when it suddenly disappeared."

"Since then, there have been no sightings at all, or at most one or two per year — until this year. Now it looks like it's back as if nothing had happened!"

The butterfly, with a wingspan of 3 to 4 inches, has bright yellow wings edged with a black border. Four diagonal stripes grace the top of the wings, and blue and orange spots on the hind wings, near its tail.

The butterfly's normal range covers much of western North America, from British Columbia to North Dakota in the north to Baja California and New Mexico in the south. It enjoys nectar from many flowers, including thistles, abelia, California buckeye, zinnia and yerba santa.

Shapiro has tallied about 100 sightings in the Davis/Vacaville area since March 26.

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