Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 - Lime Swallowtail

Subspecies in India

(1) Papilio demoleus demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 – Northern Lime Swallowtail. The species is also known as the Lime Butterfly.
 

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

This species is distributed throughout the Indo-Australian Region. It occurs across India, except in the arid NW and at elevations above 2,000 m.

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT12111
Andhra Pradesh11543321
Arunachal Pradesh1
Assam124247181
Bihar11
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh24387271399111
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT1
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi251111241
Goa
Gujarat615314191
Haryana11
Himachal Pradesh1
Jammu and Kashmir UT1111
Jharkhand
Karnataka3210823431810139156
Kerala3316512635841
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh132113421
Maharashtra122314343954232325431414
Manipur1
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland11
Odisha111
Puducherry UT
Punjab2
Rajasthan1221
Sikkim11
Tamil Nadu11231235113
Tripura311
Uttar Pradesh18741235
Uttarakhand2272
West Bengal523772259575
Total273334909915510789117978036
Cullen corylifolium (Robinson et al. 2010; K. Kunte pers. obs. 2017), (Fabaceae). Ziziphus (Robinson et al. 2010), Tilia (Robinson et al. 2010) (Malvaceae). Ziziphus jujuba (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010) (Rhamnaceae). Rutaceae (Robinson et al. 2010), Acronychia pedunculata (Robinson et al. 2010), Aegle (Robinson et al. 2010), Aegle marmelos (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Chloroxylon swietenia (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Citrus (Robinson et al. 2010), Citrus aurantiifolia (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Citrus maxima (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Citrus sinensis (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Glycosmis pentaphylla (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Limonia elephantum (Robinson et al. 2010), Murraya (Robinson et al. 2010), Murraya koenigii (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Ruta angustifolia (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 20100, Ruta graveolens (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Toddalia trifoliata (Robinson et al. 2010) (Rutaceae).

Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

 

Page citation

Anonymous 2023. Papilio demoleus Linnaeus, 1758 – Lime Swallowtail. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/papilio-demoleus, accessed 2023/06/02.