Common Mime Swallowtail

Common Mime Swallowtail

Chilasa clytia

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Ho Chi Minh City

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

6 Verified sightings at Ho Chi Minh City
12 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Mime Swallowtail

Papilio clytia, the common mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in south and southeast Asia. The butterfly belongs to the subgenus Chilasa, the black-bodied swallowtails. It serves as an excellent example of a Batesian mimic among the Indian butterflies.

Both males and females have the upperside velvety black or soft dark brown. Forewing: a subterminal series of outwardly truncate or emarginate white spots; the spot in interspace 4 shifted inwards out of line; those in interspaces 6, 7 and 8 oblique to the costa, the lowest and the upper two spots elongate; this is followed by a terminal series of smaller white spots, two in interspace 1, one above the outer, and two in interspaces 8; lastly, a single spot between the subterminal and terminal series.

Hindwing: a discal series of inwardly conical and outwardly emarginate, triangular, elongate white spots; a prominent tornal yellow spot broadly divided across the middle by a bar of the ground colour. The cilia touched with white in the interspaces; sometimes one or more of these specks on the cilia are broad and prominent and yellow in colour.

Underside: from soft pale brown to rich dark velvety brown... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tamluk 🇮🇳 India
~40%
2 Kozhikode 🇮🇳 India
~20%
3 Thiruvananthapuram 🇮🇳 India
~20%
4 Kolkata 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Xiuying District 🇨🇳 China
~20%
7 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
8 Tuen Mun 🇨🇳 China
~20%
9 Dhaka 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
~20%
10 Guwahati 🇮🇳 India
~20%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Mime Swallowtail in Ho Chi Minh City?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Mime Swallowtail sighting in Ho Chi Minh City on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 91st most-seen of the 121 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Common Mime Swallowtail in Ho Chi Minh City?

April, July and November

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Mime Swallowtail in Ho Chi Minh City on a given day, against under 5% in May, August–September and December–March, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Mime Swallowtail?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Mime Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Ho Chi Minh City the best place to see a Common Mime Swallowtail?

19th of 23

Of the 23 cities where we can rate Common Mime Swallowtail sightings, Ho Chi Minh City ranks 19th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tamluk (India, about 40%), Kozhikode (India, about 20%) and Thiruvananthapuram (India, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Common Mime Swallowtail live in Ho Chi Minh City?

Same family: Papilionidae

The closest relatives of the Common Mime Swallowtail that you can see in Ho Chi Minh City (family Papilionidae, Swallowtails and Parnassians) are Lime Swallowtail (about 40%), Tailed Jay (about 20%) and Common Jay (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Common Mime Swallowtail sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Mime Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Ho Chi Minh City (6 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.

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