Editing Papilio troilus (section)

==Ecology==
The host plants of the spicebush swallowtail are most commonly either [[Lindera benzoin|spicebush]] (''Lindera benzoin'') or [[Sassafras albidum|white sassafras]] (''Sassafras albidum'').<ref name="Klots Field">Klots, Alexander. ''A Field Guide to Butterflies''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1964.</ref> Other possible host plants include [[Zanthoxylum|prickly ash]] (''Zanthoxylum''),<ref name="Attributes">Attributes of ''Papilio Troilus'', Accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Papilio-troilus</ref> as well as [[tulip tree]] (''Liriodendron tulipifera''), [[Magnolia virginiana|sweetbay]] (''Magnolia virginiana''), [[Cinnamomum camphora|camphor]] (''Cinnamomum camphora'') and [[redbay]] (''Persea borbonia'').<ref name="Spicebrush enature" /> Redbay and [[Persea palustris|swampbay]] (''Persea palustris'') are the primary host plants for members of the ''P. t. ilioneus'' strain, while spicebush and sassafras as the primary hosts for ''P. t. troilus''.<ref name="Niato Larval">Nitao, James; Ayres, Matthew; Lederhouse, Robert; Scriber, Mark J. (Aug 1991). "Larval Adaptation to Lauraceous Hosts: Geographic Divergence in the Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly," Ecology 72 (4): 1428-1435.</ref> However, when given the choice between spicebush and sassafras, the ''P. t. troilus'' showed no significant preference for either.<ref name="Carter Oviposition">Carter, Maureen; Feeny, Paul; Haribal, Meena (1999). "An Oviposition Stimulant for Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly, ''Papilio Troilus'', From Leaves of ''Sassafras albidum''." Journal of Chemical Ecology 25 (6).</ref>

Additionally, ''P. t. ilioneus'' live only on redbay because that is the primary host plant within the Southern range. However, in a test of ''P. t. troilus'' and ''P. t. ilioneus'' on redbay, sassafras and spicebush, although the ''P. t. ilioneus'' had higher growth and survival rates on redbay than the ''P. t. troilus'', as a holistic group, both subspecies performed better on sassafras or spicebush over time.<ref name="Scriber ecology" />

In general, spicebush swallowtails tend to stick to plants that are members of the family [[Lauraceae]]. The preference for Lauraceae is so consistent among spicebush swallowtails that under experimental conditions, when placed in an environment with leaves other than Lauraceae, ''P. troilus'' died without eating anything.<ref name="Scriber Interactions">Scriber, J. Mark, Michelle Larsen, Geoff Allen, Paul Walker and Myron Zalucki, (2008). "Interactions between Papilionidae and ancient Australian angiosperms: evolutionary specialization or ecological monophagy?" ''Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata'' 128: 230-239.</ref> This fact is especially noteworthy because Lauraceae are distantly related to the host plants of other species that are food for ''Papilio'' caterpillars.<ref name="Swallowtail uky">"Swallowtail Butterflies," Accessed March 17, 2011, http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/butterflies/swallowtail/swallowtail.htm</ref> The fact that spicebush swallowtails live and feed primarily on Lauraceae only is noteworthy also because most other varieties of swallowtail butterflies are nowhere near as specific. Part of the reason for the selective nature of ''P. troilus'' and host plants may have to do with the requirement of positive stimuli to confirm that a plant is Lauraceae among ''P. troilus'' before they will feed on it, while ''[[Papilio glaucus|P. glaucus]]'', for example, will at once try to feed on any plant presented to it.<ref name="Scriber ecology" />

The insistence on feeding primarily on Lauraceae has its advantages for spicebush swallowtails. They are able to feed two to four times more adeptly and efficiently on Lauraceae than ''P. glaucus'' on the same plant, for example, who feed on Lauraceae as well as other types of plants. In addition, there has not been any other Lepidoptera species which feeds as efficiently as the ''P. troilus'' on spicebush.<ref name="Scriber Interactions" />
However, none of the host plants of ''Papilio troilus'' occur throughout the full range of the spicebush swallowtail. As stated above, the ''P. t. ilioneus'' strain, found in [[Florida]], mostly feeds on redbay, while ''P. t. troilus'' feeds on either sassafras or spicebush. In a study, it was found that those spicebush swallowtails that normally feed on redbay did not grow as well on spicebush or sassafras during the first [[instar]] of development, while all insects studied grew better throughout the larval period on sassafras or spicebush. In addition, the ''P. t. ilioneus'' strain was typically larger in size than the ''P. t. troilus''.<ref name="Niato Larval" />

In a recent study, 3-''trans''-caffeoyl-muco-quinic acid was found to be the substance that compelled spicebush swallowtails to lay their eggs on members of Lauraceae. However, 3-''trans''-caffeoyl-muco-quinic acid is a component of the extract from sassafras plants but not from spicebush, redbay or camphor tree, the other top three host plants of spicebush swallowtails. This substance is not necessarily itself the stimulant but instead activates another as yet unknown compound that thus compels the spicebush swallowtail to lay eggs. Thus, this substance may hold the link for why some spicebush swallowtails prefer to lay eggs on sassafras rather than spicebush. In addition, 3-''trans''-caffeoyl-muco-quinic acid is a member of a family of acids, [[hydroxycinnamic acid]]s, which are present in oviposition stimulants for some members of all five families of swallowtail butterflies. Hydroxycinnamic acids are also present in the extracts from host plants for two other species within the genus ''Papilio'': the black swallowtail butterfly, ''[[Papilio polyxenes|P. polyxenes]]'', and ''[[Papilio protenor|P. protenor]]''. Thus, hydroxycinnamic acids may help explain why many types of swallowtails choose to oviposit on the plants that they choose.<ref name="Swallowtail uky" />

===Food sources===
Spicebush swallowtails gain sustenance from eight major sources. [[Joe-Pye weed]], [[jewelweed]], and [[honeysuckle]] are favorite sources of nectar for the adults.<ref name="Minno Gardening" /> They have also been known to drink nectar from [[lantana]]s,<ref name="Simply" /> as well as [[thistle]]s, [[milkweed]]s, [[azalea]], [[dogbane]], [[mimosa]], and [[sweet pepperbush]].<ref name="Spicebrush enature" />