tiger swallowtail

tiger swallowtail, any of several North American species of black-and-yellow swallowtail butterflies. The eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) is a large, widely distributed species. The yellow male has black margins and black stripes on the wings. The female is similarly marked in the north, where the black and distasteful pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) does not occur; in the south, where the two coexist, the female tiger swallowtail is very often all or mostly black.