Tammy SonsFounder/CEO, TN Nursery · CEO TN Nursery

Rare Butterfly Species Found On My Pawpaws!! #tnnursery #garden #zebraswallowtail #rareinsects

9 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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1:03

In this short video, Bailey from TN Nursery showcases a zebra swallowtail butterfly, explaining that this species is extremely rare because it only lays its eggs on native pawpaw trees. Bailey notes that while the butterfly was perched on a butterfly bush, its pristine wings suggest it recently emerged from a nearby pawpaw. The video highlights the desirability of pawpaw trees for their unique fruit, hardiness, and the ecological benefit of attracting rare butterflies. Bailey concludes by encouraging viewers to purchase pawpaw trees from TN Nursery (tnursery.net) to invite such butterflies into their own yards.

Chapters

Hey everyone, it's Bailey with TN Nursery, and look what we got to see today. Oh, I'm so excited! This is a zebra swallowtail butterfly. They're really, really hard to come by, and I'll tell you why. They will only lay their eggs on the pawpaw tree. Now this one is enjoying a butterfly bush, but judging by its wings and how perfect it is, I have a feeling it just hatched off of our pawpaw trees. Now pawpaws is a very, very sought-after tree. I'm sure everybody knows that now. People love them because of their unique fruit and their hardiness, but there's also little perks like this that really makes them worth their weight in gold. You don't ever see this butterfly because it will only raise on the common pawpaw, the native pawpaw. So it was really, really fun to be able to see something like this today. Shop now at tnursery.net and lure you some of these beautiful Butterflies to your yard.