Spangle swallowtail
Papilio protenor
The spangle swallowtail is a big, velvety blue-black butterfly. Its back wings are sprinkled with sparkly blue scales and have red marks near the bottom. Like other swallowtails, it is a strong, beautiful flier.
Lives in
South and East Asia, from the Himalayas to China, Korea and Japan, in forests and gardens
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It cannot bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its caterpillar eats citrus leaves, and the mother tastes the leaves to choose the right plant for her eggs.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
Spangle swallowtail about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
The mother can taste chemicals in leaves to check if they are good food for her babies.
2
Its caterpillars eat only citrus and related plants.
3
The boys give off a stronger smell than the girls.
4
The girls have bigger red patches on their back wings.
you asked
Most asked questions about Spangle swallowtail
?What does the spangle swallowtail caterpillar eat?
Citrus leaves, especially of mandarin trees.
?Where does the spangle swallowtail live?
In South and East Asia, from Pakistan and the Himalayas to China, Korea and Japan.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Papilio protenor
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Asia
- Also known as
- Spangle
Where the facts come from
- Papilio protenor (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Charles J. Sharp. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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