A female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (dark morph)(Papilio glaucus). Females of this species of butterfly can be either the color you would expect, yellow and black, or mostly black, like this one. This is called sexual dimorphism.

The dark morph looks similar to a Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) which has a disagreeable taste. That appearance helps protect the dark morph female Tiger Swallowtail from predators.

Isn’t nature amazing?

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