Lime butterfly
The lime butterfly is a big black butterfly covered in yellow bands and spots. On each back wing it has a red spot with a blue edge. It is a swallowtail butterfly, but unlike most of its cousins it has no long tails on its wings.
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Fun facts
As a grown-up butterfly it lives a very short time. Males live about four days and females about a week.
It is perhaps the most widespread swallowtail butterfly in the world.
Its names come from the citrus trees its caterpillars feed on, like limes and lemons.
In recent years it has spread to new places, such as the islands of Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cuba and the Seychelles.
Underneath, its wings have the same pattern as on top, but the pale markings are bigger.
Most asked questions about Lime butterfly
?What does the lime butterfly caterpillar eat?
It eats the leaves of citrus trees such as limes and lemons.
?How big is the lime butterfly?
Its wings measure about 8 to 10 centimetres from tip to tip.
?How long does a lime butterfly live?
The grown-up butterfly lives only a few days, about four for males and a week for females.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Papilio demoleus
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Asia, Australia and Oceania, North America, Africa
- Also known as
- Lemon butterfly, Chequered swallowtail, Lime swallowtail
Where the facts come from
- Papilio demoleus (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 Jeevan Jose, Kerala, India. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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