Two tailed Swallowtail butterfly life expectancy?

Answer 1

On June 17th of this year (2008) my kids and I found a newly eclosed Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly. We could tell that it had just eclosed because its wings were still wrinkly and it could not fly. It seemed awfully vulnerable where it was so we brought it in to sit on a flowering plant, we assumed that it would finish drying its wings and then it would be able to fly. Sadly, its wings never did fully form and it was still flightless so we decided to care for it ourselves. We did some research and discovered that it was a female Two-tailed butterfly and that she would nectar from dandylions. This was a good thing as dandylions are one of very few flowers blooming in mid-June around here (Montana.) We brought her fresh flowers twice a day. She lived until July 8th; about three weeks.