Papilio zelicaon
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Papilio zelicaon, the Anise Swallowtail, is a common swallowtail butterfly of western North America. Both the upper and lower sides of its wings are black, but the upper wing has a broad yellow stripe across it, giving the butterfly an overall yellow appearance. There are striking blue spots on the rear edge of the rear wing, and the characteristic tails of the swallowtails. Its wingspan is 52–80 mm (2.0–3.1 in). Its body is somewhat shorter than the rather similar western tiger swallowtail, with which its range overlaps; it also lacks the black stripes, converging toward the tail, of the latter. There is a somewhat darker subspecies, P. z. nitra, which is rare throughout the range, though somewhat more often found at lower elevations.
The anise swallowtail has a wingspan ranging from 52 to 80 mm (2.0 to 3.1 in). Wings are mostly yellow, with black bands along the edges of both the forewings and hindwings. They are distinguished from tiger swallowtail butterflies by being smaller in size and lacking the vertical black striping patterns. There are yellowish-orange to red eyespots near the tails of each wing, each containing a black pupil. The body is predominantly black... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 14 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Anise Swallowtail sighting in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 143 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Anise Swallowtail in Grand Canyon National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to April, the lowest months. That is one of Grand Canyon National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 40 mm in March.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Anise 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.
11th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Anise Swallowtail sightings, Grand Canyon National Park ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Glacier National Park (United States, about 20%), Grand Teton National Park (United States, about 20%) and Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Anise Swallowtail that you can see in Grand Canyon National Park (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Two-Tailed Swallowtail (about 20%), Black Swallowtail (about 10%) and Western Tiger Swallowtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Anise Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Grand Canyon National Park (13 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.
