Papilio demolion
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Papilio demolion, the banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. Papilio demolion delostenus Rothschild, 1908 This species is present in Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. These butterflies mainly inhabit nature reserves, wastelands, mangrove areas and offshore islands.
Papilio demolion has a wingspan of 75–95 mm (3.0–3.7 in). Male upperside is brownish black. Forewings and hindwings are crossed by a broad prominent oblique pale greenish or yellowish-white band that commences just before the middle of the dorsal margin of the hindwing, crosses over on to the forewing and is continued as a series of spots that diminish in size in the upper interspaces to the apex of that wing. On the hindwing this is followed by a subterminal series of similarly coloured lunules. Underside is fuliginous black, the transverse band that crosses the wings as on the upperside.
Forewing: cell with a series of four slender longitudinal pale lines from base; the veins... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tanjung Puting National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Bandung | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Swallowtail sighting in Sepilok on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 87 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Swallowtail in Sepilok on a given day, against under 5% in March–June, August and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Banded Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
5th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Banded Swallowtail sightings, Sepilok ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tanjung Puting National Park (Indonesia, about 30%), Gunung Leuser National Park (Indonesia, about 20%) and Danum Valley Conservation Area (Malaysia, about 20%).
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Banded Swallowtail that you can see in Sepilok (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Black-And-White Helen Swallowtail (about 10%) and Great Mormon Swallowtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Sepilok (6 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.
