Chinese Peacock Swallowtail (Papilio bianor) — identification, habitat & look-alikes

The Chinese Peacock Swallowtail is an Asian forest butterfly with black wings that look blue-green as the viewing angle changes. Its hindwings have tails and red spots. It has no native U.S. range.

Appearance

Appearance: The black wings carry green or blue-green . The hindwings have tails and red spots, and males have a dark hairy patch on the forewings.
Seasonal forms: Summer adults are usually larger than spring adults, and wing pattern varies strongly across the range.

Look-alikes

banded peacockPapilio palinurus

The banded peacock (Papilio palinurus) has a bold green band crossing both wings. The Chinese Peacock Swallowtail has green dusting and red spots near the hindwing tails.

Why they get mixed upBoth are dark Asian swallowtails with shimmering green wings and can appear in U.S. butterfly collections.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: forests
wooded edges
tree-filled parks
Range: It is native to parts of Asia, including China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. In Japan it is found in the Yaeyama Islands. It has no native U.S. range.
Preferred conditions: It uses forests and other wooded places, including towns where suitable caterpillar grow.

Behavior

Activity: Adults fly by day and visit flowers. Males also gather on damp sand to take in water and minerals.

Life cycle

Larva: Older caterpillars are green with several pale diagonal bands along the sides.
Caterpillar food plants: In China, caterpillars feed on plants in the citrus family, including mandarin orange and Sichuan pepper relatives.

Name and classification

About the name: The mainland Japanese and Korean population was formerly called Papilio bianor dehaanii; it is now often treated as a separate species, Papilio dehaanii.

Conservation

IUCN Red List: NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed

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