Paco la mariposa

One of my favourite spots for pontificating is the front terrace by the Bougainvillea. It's a cool place just to sit and ponder. I usually manage to catch up with a few friends from the insect world. This is Paco, he's a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (mariposa). He also likes the Bougainvillea, but where as I'm happy just to chill he's always busy hopping from flower to flower. He needs to learn to relax more.

Factoid: The swallowtail butterflies are large, colourful butterflies, which form the family Papilionidae. There are at least 550 species, and though the majority are tropical, members of the family are found on all continents except Antarctica. The family includes the largest butterflies in the world, the birdwing butterflies of Australasia (genus Ornithoptera).
Swallowtails differ from all other butterflies in a number of anatomical traits. Most notably, their caterpillars possess a unique organ behind their heads, called the osmeterium. Normally hidden, this forked structure can be raised when the caterpillar is threatened, and used to emit a foul-smelling secretion containing terpenes.
The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucas) is a strong flier with distinctive yellow and black striped markings on its wings and body (some females are brown or black, mimicking the poisonous pipevine swallowtail). They are called are called swallowtails because they have long "tails" on their hind wings which look a bit like the long, pointed tails of swallows.

In Spain it is ILLEGAL to use a butterfly net or moth trap without a permit from the relevant authorities, even if you do not take specimens.