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Lime Swallowtail
Papilio demoleus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumArthropoda (Arthropods)
- ClassInsecta (Insects)
- OrderLepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- FamilyPapilionidae (Swallowtails and Parnassians)
- GenusPapilio (Common Swallowtails)
- SpeciesPapilio demoleus (Lime Swallowtail)
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
164 Verified sightings at Bangkok
171 In all 17 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted
About the Lime Swallowtail
Papilio demoleus is a common and widespread swallowtail butterfly. The butterfly is also known as the lemon butterfly and chequered swallowtail. These common names refer to their host plants, which are usually citrus species such as the cultivated lime. Unlike most swallowtail butterflies, it does not have a prominent tail. When the adult stage is taken into consideration, the lime swallowtail is the shortest-lived butterfly, with male adults dying after four days and females after a week. The butterfly is native to Asia and Australia, and can be considered an invasive pest in other parts of the world. The butterfly has spread to Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the rest of the Antilles in the Western Hemisphere, and to Mahé, Seychelles.
The butterfly is tailless and has a wingspan 80–100 mm. Above, the background colour is black. A broad, irregular yellow band is found on the wings above, which is broken in the case of the forewing. Besides this, the butterfly has a large number of irregular spots on the wing. The upper hindwing has a red tornal spot with blue edging around it.
As the caterpillar ages, its hunger for leaf tissue continues to grow... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Lime Swallowtail in Bangkok
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 6 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nitmiluk National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 11 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 13 | Minneriya National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 14 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 15 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 16 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 17 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karachi | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 2 | Prayagraj | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Raipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Hanoi | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 6 | Durg | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 8 | Madurai | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
Closest Relatives at Bangkok
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Lime Swallowtail in Bangkok?
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Lime Swallowtail sighting in Bangkok on a given day, based on 164 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 11th most-seen of the 245 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Lime Swallowtail in Bangkok?
June
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Lime Swallowtail in Bangkok on a given day, against about 10% in October and December–March, the lowest months. That is one of Bangkok's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain against 10 mm in December.
What time of day is best to see a Lime Swallowtail?
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lime Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Is Bangkok the best place to see a Lime Swallowtail?
65th of 78
Of the 78 cities where we can rate Lime Swallowtail sightings, Bangkok ranks 65th at about 20%. The best odds are in Karachi (Pakistan, about 80%), Prayagraj (India, about 50%) and Raipur (India, about 50%).
Where does the Lime Swallowtail sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lime Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Bangkok (164 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
