White-Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilionidae) Wing span: 2 7/8 - 3 1/4 inches (7.3 - 8.3 cm). Identification: I couldn't find any specific information on this butterfly but the upper tips of the wings were transparent, got white in the middle and a light green close to the body. Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies, and include over 550 species. When they are caterpillars these forks secrete smelly stuff called terpenes. An acid they carry also protects them from predators. Life history: The female USUALLY lay clutches under the leaves of around 40-80 eggs. The capacity seems to be about 450 eggs in total. The hatch in four days. Flight: Massive migrations begin in July-early August that may be unsurpassed by any other insect in the Neurotropics. In some years these population of subsequent migrations have occurred more or less simultaneously (in the same week) from Mexico to Bolivia. in South Central America and goes unabated for as long as five months. Caterpillar hosts: Vine Omphalea diandra in the family Euphorbiaceae. Adult food: They like white "fluffy" flowers like those of the mimosoid legumes and the composite Eupatorium. Habitat: Tropical forest edges, cutover second growth. Range: .