Papilio paradoxa
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Papilio (Chilasa) paradoxa, the great blue mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in India and parts of South-East Asia. The butterfly belongs to the mime subgenus, Chilasa, of the genus Papilio (black-bodied swallowtails). It is an excellent mimic of different species of Euploea (sub-family Danainae).
From Charles Thomas Bingham (1905) The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma, Butterflies Vol. 1: Papilio paradoxus Race telearchus Race telearchus, Hewitson-Male, Upperside: forewing dark brown richly shot with blue, a short oval streak or large spot and a postdiscal and subterminal complete series of spots bluish white; both the series curve inwards on the wing anteriorly, the inner series of spots elongate. Hindwing rich hair-brown, with or without a subterminal series of white specks that increase in size anteriorly. Underside rich chocolate brown. Forewing: the cellular short streak faintly indicated, the postdiscal series of spots of the upperside not present, the subterminal series white, the spots much reduced in size. Hindwing: markings as on the upperside. Cilia dark brown alternated sparsely with white. Antennae black; head, thorax and abdomen... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Great Blue Mime Swallowtail sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 126 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Great Blue Mime Swallowtail in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and October–April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Blue Mime Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cuc Phuong National Park, in our data
Cuc Phuong National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Great Blue Mime Swallowtail sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Great Blue Mime Swallowtail that you can see in Cuc Phuong National Park (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Spangle Swallowtail (about 50%), Red Helen Swallowtail (about 40%) and Great Mormon Swallowtail (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Blue Mime Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Cuc Phuong National Park (11 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
