Blue-Banded Swallowtail
The Blue-Banded Swallowtail, Papilio nireus, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The wingspan is 75 – 90mm in males and 85 – 95 mm in females. It flies year-round, with peaks from November to February.
Papilio nireus, the green-banded swallowtail, narrow-banded blue swallowtail, or African blue-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Did you know?
Males often settle on damp areas on logging roads in groups of 4 or 5 to drink mineralised moisture.
- Common Name: Blue-banded Swallowtail
- Scientific Name: Papilio nireus
- Family: Papilionidae
- Subfamily: Papilioninae
- Tribe: Papilionini
- Wingspan: 3.0 to 3.7 in
- Place of origin: Central & Southern Africa
The wingspan is 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in) in males and 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in) in females. Forewing above at most with two blue submarginal spots in cellules 7 and 8; rarely in the female with several yellow ones; the blue (male) or greenish (female) median band is 2–7 mm broad at the hindmargin of the forewing and 4–12 mm in the middle of the hindwing, and is only a little widened posteriorly; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing does not completely cover the base of the cellule and the narrow spot in cellule lc does not reach the cell; forewing beneath almost always entirely without submarginal spots.
Median band of the forewing above well developed, the spots of cellules 2—4 obliquely cut off distally; the discal spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is very long and produced farther towards the anal angle than the spot in cellule 1 c. Sierra Leone to Angola and Uganda. — lyaeus Dbl. The median band narrower, but complete; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is shorter and does not reach so far towards the anal angle as the one in 1 c. Larva above green, beneath whitish, with a whitish oblique longitudinal streak at each side on segments 7 and 8 and a girdle of ring-shaped spots on the third segment.
Cape Colony to Angola and British East Africa. male ab. aelyus Suff. only differs from lyaeus in the discal spot in cellule 1 a of the forewing being entirely wanting and the one in cellule 1 b divided into two; German East Africa.— pseudonireus Fldr. (= donaldsoni Em. Sharpe). The median band is altogether absent on the forewing or is only represented by a few very small spots; on the hindwing it is formed as in lyaeus. Somali¬ land and Abyssinia.
The blue-banded swallowtail, a member of the Papilionidae family, is a large, eye-catching butterfly with metallic blue bands on the upper side of its wings, as in the photo above.
The body of the swallowtail (something of a misnomer as many don’t have tails on their hind wings) is small and light in relation to the size of the wings.
When feeding from the nectar of flowers, the swallowtail flits from bloom to bloom, its legs just touching the flower while its rapidly vibrating wings maintain balance. This presents an interesting photographic challenge, specially when using a macro lens.
