Papilio helenus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Papilio helenus, the red Helen, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests of southern India and parts of southeast Asia. Papilio helenus is rarely found in Sri Lanka, southern and north-east India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, Vietnam, southern China (including Hainan, Guangdong province), Taiwan, southern Japan, South Korea, Ryukyu Islands, peninsular and eastern Malaysia, Brunei, Philippines, and Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Bangka, Kalimantan, the Lesser Sunda Islands except Tanimbar).
In India it occurs along the Western Ghats from Kerala to Gujarat, also Palnis and Shevaroys, in the north from Mussoorie eastwards, to north-east India and onto Myanmar. Male. Upper-side rich brownish-black; cilia alternated with white. Fore-wing with slender longitudinal streaks of golden-yellow scales within the cell, and hairy-scaled broad streaks between the outer veins; lower base of the wing also sparsely speckled with golden-yellow scales. Hind-wing with a cream- white upper discal patch composed of three portions, a short almost quadrate portion in the costal interspace, and two lower large elongate portions in the subcostal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 4 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 6 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 7 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 8 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red Helen Swallowtail sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 83 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 164th most-seen of the 1013 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red Helen Swallowtail in Tokyo on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red Helen 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.
7th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Red Helen Swallowtail sightings, Tokyo ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tuen Mun (China, about 20%), Hong Kong (China, about 20%) and Zhuhai [Macau] (China, about 10%).
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Red Helen Swallowtail that you can see in Tokyo (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Chinese Yellow Swallowtail (about 20%), Old World Swallowtail (about 10%) and Papilio demetrius (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red Helen Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Tokyo (83 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.
