Common Eastern Bumble Bee vs Emerald Swallowtail

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Common Eastern Bumble Bee Emerald Swallowtail
Scientific Name Bombus impatiens Papilio palinurus
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Apidae Papilionidae
Size 8-23 mm 80-100 mm wingspan
Habitat Underground Forests
Diet Nectar Feeders Nectar Feeders
Regions Eastern North America South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Common Eastern Bumble Bee

A robust fuzzy bumble bee with a black body and yellow thoracic band that is widely used as a commercial greenhouse pollinator. It is the most abundant bumble bee in eastern North America.

💡

Did You Know?

It can perform buzz pollination by vibrating its flight muscles at a specific frequency to shake pollen from flowers like tomatoes.

Emerald Swallowtail

A stunning swallowtail butterfly with broad bands of emerald green on black wings. The green color is produced by yellow and blue structural layers overlapping. It has graceful spatulate tails on the hindwings.

💡

Did You Know?

The emerald green color is actually an optical illusion created by alternating layers of yellow and blue on the wing scales.