OLogy Cards > Broad-tailed Swallowtail

Taiwan's national butterfly is the Broad-tailed Swallowtail butterfly. With its colorful hind wings and broad wingtails, it's quite a sight! But you can only spot it in one place—the sassafras forests of Taiwan. That's because the butterfly's larva (or caterpillar) feeds only on sassafras leaves. Unfortunately, sassafras forests are few in number and widely scattered in mountains. If they disappear, so will the Broad-tailed Swallowtail.