BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Papilio rutulus
Western Tiger Swallowtail
| Scientific Name: | Papilio rutulus Lucas, 1852 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Western Tiger Swallowtail | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Pelham, J. P. 2008. A catalogue of the butterflies of the United States and Canada with a complete bibliography of the descriptive and systematic literature. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. Volume 40. 658 pp. Revised 14 February, 2012. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Invertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | LE-PAPRUT | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Sep 2020) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Feb 2020) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 6 - Not Assessed (2000) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | This species is found along streamsides, in urban gardens, and in mountain woodlands. It is more limited in habitat at southern end of its range (Brock and Kaufman 2003). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore:Immature
Nectarivore: Adult |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Caterpillar Hosts: Leaves of cottonwood and aspen (Populus), willows (Salix), wild cherry (Prunus), and ash (Fraxinus). Adult Food: Nectar from many flowers including thistles, abelia, California buckeye, zinnia, and yerba santa (Lotts and Naberhaus 2017). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | / / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This species occurs west of the Rocky Mountains, from British Columbia, Canada, south to northern Mexico. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 09, 2001 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
| No references available | |||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2001. Species Summary: Papilio rutulus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 9, 2026).