Swallowtail, Up Close
I was trying to see how close I could get to the tiger swallowtails (Papilio glaucus) today. This one let me get pretty close and you can see the hairs on her body. I have a question for any botanist out there who happens to come across this page. It is my understanding that one of the three characteristics unique to mammals is hair. If that’s the case, then what are the hair like things on this butterfly? Is there some definition of “hair” that lets it include mammal hair but not the apparent hair on other animals? If so, please let me know.