Papilio constantinus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Papilio constantinus, the Constantine's swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Males have a wingspan of 70–90 mm and females a wingspan of 80–95 mm. The female is a larger than the male on average but the sexual dimorphism remains low.
On the obverse, the wings are a rather dull brown colour. The forewings are paler at the base, they bear a broken white or cream band, a macule of the same colour in the cell, a few macules at the apex, and a series of small submarginal macules. The hindwings have spoon-shaped tails. They are paler at the base and have a white or cream band and a series of submarginal macules of the same color.
On the reverse the motifs are similar but the wings are lighter. The brown parts are faded but the veins remain dark brown and there are some dark brown lines in the intravenous spaces and in the forewing cell. The hindwings have an orange dot in the anal angle.
The body is cream coloured underneath, with black lines on the abdomen, and dark brown above. Its flight period is during the warmer months peaking from November to February. The larvae feed on Vepris Reflexi, Vepris lanceolata, Vepris undulata, Clausena species, Citrus species, Teclea trifoliatum, Teclea nobilis, and Teclea gerrardii. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Constantine's Swallowtail sighting in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 156th most-seen of the 316 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.
December to May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Constantine's Swallowtail in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to November, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Constantine's Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in our data
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Constantine's Swallowtail sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Constantine's Swallowtail that you can see in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Citrus Swallowtail (about 20%), Narrow Green-Banded Swallowtail (about 20%) and Mocker Swallowtail (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Constantine's Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (15 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.
