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Eastern Tiger Swallowtail: State Butterfly of Georgia!

© Naomi Mathews

Spring brings with it many delightful and welcome changes! Cold winter temperatures finally give in to the pleasant warmth of sunny days. Snow capped rolling hills gradually turn brown as winter snows melt, followed by wildflowers revealing their cheerful smiling faces amid carpets of soft green grass

Indeed, spring is a time of newness and reawakening. Just as we humans crawl out of snowdrifts, winter boots, and long-johns ready to greet spring with exuberance, so it is with all of Nature. This photo © Terri W. of PA

Pairs of robins, bluebirds, meadowlarks, and California quail busily seek favorable nesting places to rear their young out of harm's way. Flocks of migrating ducks and magnificent Canadian geese fly in formation against clear blue spring skies. Every year they intuitively return to their northern habitats in early spring, their God-given instincts urging them ever onward until they reach their destination.

Then suddenly and quite without warning, overwintering butterflies begin to appear! Their early spring emergence is totally silent, almost surreptitious. One of the most colorful and exquisite butterflies to appear every spring east of the Rocky Mountains is the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail {Papilio glaucus}. One can hardly miss seeing these gorgeous yellow and black beauties imbibing sweet nectar from early blooming spring flowers.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies are especially cherished and protected by people living in the state of Georgia. If you're wondering why Georgians are so devoted to this particular "flying flower," please step back in time for a moment to the year 1988 for a bit of historical data.

Quoting a portion of the Georgia State General Assembly, Code Section 50-3-62 Enacted No. 1271 (Senate Bill No. 449) we read:

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WHEREAS, butterflies in their resplendent beauty have fascinated children and adults for ages; and

WHEREAS, the Greeks believed that the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis represented man's metamorphosis from the mortal to the eternal; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Deen Day Smith, the current President of The Garden Clubs of Georgia, Inc., was inspired by that same metaphor to donate funds in memory of the late Cecil B. Day to build a butterfly center at Callaway Gardens; and

WHEREAS, the Day Butterfly Center which is scheduled to open the latter part of 1988 will stress the importance of conservation of the land and its plants and animals for the enjoyment of present and future generations; and

WHEREAS, it is only fitting and proper that the tiger swallowtail be designated as the official state butterfly.

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