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Sticker of Common banded peacock swallowtail
Bug card No. 0992 of 4,939

Common banded peacock swallowtail

Papilio crino
Eats: Nectar and pollenButterfliesRainforests and jungles6 legs

The common banded peacock is a big swallowtail butterfly with a shiny band across its dark wings. The band glows blue or green, depending on how you look at it, just like a peacock feather. It is a fast flyer that zooms high among the trees.

Lives in
India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, in forests
Wingspan
10 to 12 cm (3.9 to 4.6 in)
Top speed
about 21 km/h (13 mph)
Flying, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
The butterflies sip nectar from flowers, high in the trees and sometimes from bright flowers near the ground. The caterpillars eat satinwood tree leaves.
For real!Photo of Common banded peacock swallowtail
Picture by Sandip Kr Sanyal. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How wide are its wings?

Common banded peacock swallowtail wings about 12 cm tip to tip (4.6 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
wings as wide as your handcould fly across a whole football pitch in 18 seconds

How big is Common banded peacock swallowtail compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its wings are about 10 to 11.5 centimetres from tip to tip, bigger than a grown-up's hand is wide.

2

Its glowing colour comes from special scales on its wings.

3

It flutters its wings in a hurry even while it drinks nectar.

4

On its back wings it has a red spot with a black middle, like an eye, to fool hungry birds.

5

It likes to fly alone.

you asked

Most asked questions about Common banded peacock swallowtail

?Why is it called a peacock?

Its wings shine blue and green like a peacock's feathers.

?How big is the common banded peacock?

Its wings are about 10 to 11.5 centimetres from tip to tip.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Papilio crino
Group
Butterflies
Family
Papilionidae
Classification
Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
Lives on
Asia
Also known as
Common banded peacock

Where the facts come from

  1. Papilio crino (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Sandip Kr Sanyal. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles

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