The Swallowtails are Out in the Garden

Our butterfly bush is in full bloom, and attracting lots of butterflies,

First, the Eastern Swallowtail, the most common of the swallowtails, in the boring old yellow color that all males, and about half the females take on

And the melanistic female Eastern Tiger Swallowtails:

The Spicebush Swallowtail. Both male and female are black, but the "blue/green" blush on hind wings is greener in the males than the females. Also note the yellow markings on the body. While we do see them on the butterfly bush, they seem to favor other plants more (in this case, a verbena)

The Zebra Swallowtail. It was very common a few days ago, but seems to be declining. Butterflies don't live that long, only a week or two in summer, so the "flights" of butterflies (more or less synchronized emergence of a group from their chrysalis') tends to make a batch of butterflies of a particlar species very common for a short while