Swallowtail
Explanation
The swallowtail is a real beauty queen. Its wings are creamy white in colour with a black marking with blue bands. Its appearance and its graceful gliding flight make it one of our most beautiful butterflies. It is also our largest native butterfly. It lives mainly in the south of the Netherlands and is often seen in vegetable gardens. The female of the species likes to come to the Tapijn Garden to look for plants on which she can lay her eggs. The caterpillars love carrots and fennel. The caterpillars are also beautiful: bright green with black stripes.
Relationship with humans
Why we do what we do
The swallowtail likes to visit vegetable gardens. The caterpillars love the vegetables and herbs that we grow, just like we do. They like to feast on the leaves of carrot and fennel plants. In doing so, they are competing with us. Fortunately, the damage is usually limited, because they never appear in large numbers.
