Rehabbed skunk release party...
Very unusual swallowtail, that I might have passed off as Black Swallowtail had I not seen large flashes of yellow on both the topside and bottomside as it flew by, eventually landing briefly while I raced for my camera, which unfortunately had my macro mothing lens on it. Nevertheless, I got some photos that show the extensive yellow on the wings. Also, the abdomen is yellow, with a black stripe down the middle, unlike any Black Swallowtail I've ever photographed. It still doesn't fit well, with field marks and ranges, with other "black" swallowtails. ???
It happened again! On my ninth and last night of mothing in Panama, this thing flew in. I mean, it literally flew in when I was at the sheet documenting other moths. I heard it before I saw it.…”fwaAPPP!!” And it’s déja vu all over again.
To be clear, it actually perched on the sheet in its normal vertical (?), head-to-the-side posture, but I've rotated the images here for display.
I measured this moth twice with my handy cm rule. Total wingspan measured 26.2-26.3 cm (each FW about 12 to 12.5 cm) or about 10.3 to 10.4 inches. That's not quite an inch smaller than the one I encountered 6-1/2 years ago. See, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9152365
The present location is at a different residence than the moth in 2017 but only 100 meters away; same small community in Alto Quiel, Los Naranjos, Chiriquí, Panama (a suburb of Boquete).
Berry Springs Park and Preserve
Berry Springs Park and Preserve
lower green face and white line.