Papilio memnon Linnaeus, 1758
Christmas Swallowtail
 PAPILIONIDAE,   PAPILIONOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Papilio memnon
(Photo: courtesy of Peellden, Taiwan)

This species is presumably named after Memnon, the king of Aethiopia in Greek mythology.

The caterpillar of this species is green with black and white areas, that vary as the caterpillars grow through their various instars.

The caterpillars happily feed on a variety of plants in RUTACEAE, including

  • Pomelo (Citrus maxima),
  • Bee-bee Tree (Tetradium daniellii),
  • Chopi (Zanthoxylum acanthopodium).

    Papilio memnon
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/CNC/CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The wings of the male adult butterflies have black upper surfaces, with a blue sheen. The hindwings have no tail. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 13 cms.

    Various subspecies have tails and white and red areas. The subspecies are found across south-east Asia, including

  • Borneo,
  • Java, and
  • Singapore,

    and is an infrequent visitor to Australia.

    Further reading :

    Carl Linnaeus,
    Insecta Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae,
    Volume 1, Edition 10 (1760), Class 5, Part 3, p. 460, No. 12.

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    (written 24 May 2026)