: any of various usually large brightly marked butterflies (family Papilionidae, especially genus Papilio) with each hind wing typically having an elongated process
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Different types of swallowtails, including western tiger, pale, and anise, can be seen at Jack’s Peak, Johnston says.—A.k. Whitney, Oc Register, 4 June 2025 Some swallowtail butterflies lay eggs on citrus trees.—Jessica Peralta, Oc Register, 4 June 2025 At the time, conservationists fretted that the enormous hurricane was going to wipe out the last of the island’s Schaus’ swallowtails (Papilio aristodemus), a species of endangered black-and-yellow butterfly native to southern Florida and now found only on Elliott Key and nearby Key Largo.—Marina Wang, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Apr. 2025 For example, about 18,000 species of butterfly exist – think monarch, zebra swallowtail or cabbage white.—Nicholas Green, The Conversation, 24 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for swallowtail
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