Papilio helenus
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
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 |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Red Helen Swallowtail sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 32 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 11th most-seen of the 126 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Red Helen Swallowtail in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and November, 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.
Yes
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Red Helen Swallowtail sightings, Cuc Phuong National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Namdapha National Park (India, about 40%) and Sinharaja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Red Helen Swallowtail that you can see in Cuc Phuong National Park (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Spangle Swallowtail (about 50%), Great Mormon Swallowtail (about 40%) and Common Mormon Swallowtail (about 30%), 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 Cuc Phuong National Park (32 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.
