Papilio xuthus
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Papilio xuthus, the Asian swallowtail, Chinese yellow swallowtail, Japanese swallowtail, Korean swallowtail or Xuthus swallowtail, is a yellow-colored, medium to large sized swallowtail butterfly found in northeast Asia, northern Myanmar, southern China, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, Japan (from Hokkaidō to the Yaeyama Islands), Siberia and the Hawaiian Islands. The butterfly has been observed thrice in New Zealand. Once in Dunedin in 1996 emerging from a chrysalis in a car yard specializing in Japanese used cars; it is thought the chrysalis arrived through one of the cars. and later in Auckland in 2011 and 2016. It was also recorded in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, in 2014.
It mates multiple times in its life, leading to an increased genetic diversity in its young. It is preyed upon by a host of organisms, including the tree cricket Oecanthus longicauda, ant Lasius niger, and wasps (Polistes and Trogus mactator). P. xuthus utilizes color vision and color constancy while foraging for plants of the family Rutaceae.
It is common and not threatened. Papilio xuthus is common in urban, suburban, woods and orange orchards. The flight period is from May to August. Males use both physical and visual cues to attract mates during the breeding season. Females of the species regularly mate with multiple partners. After mating, females use habitat and food quality to determine where they will oviposit their eggs. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiuzhaigou National Park | 🇨🇳 China |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Chinese Yellow Swallowtail sighting in Changzhou on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 5th most-seen of the 12 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Chinese Yellow Swallowtail in Changzhou on a given day, against under 5% in May and June, the lowest months. That is one of Changzhou's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain against 40 mm in December. November and December have too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chinese Yellow Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 27
Of the 27 cities where we can rate Chinese Yellow Swallowtail sightings, Changzhou ranks 3rd at about 30%. The best odds are in Luoyang (China, about 40%) and Nagoya (Japan, about 40%).
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Chinese Yellow Swallowtail that you can see in Changzhou (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Common Mormon Swallowtail (about 40%) and Chinese Peacock Swallowtail (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chinese Yellow Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Changzhou (7 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.
