Mocker swallowtail
The mocker swallowtail is a big African butterfly and a real master of disguise. The males all look much the same, but the females come in many different colours and patterns. Many of them copy butterflies that taste bad, so birds leave them alone.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
The females come in at least 14 different looks.
Some females copy the colours of butterflies that taste horrible. Birds remember the bad taste and leave the copycats alone too.
Other females look just like the males.
A famous British scientist called it the most interesting butterfly in the world.
One of its nicknames is the flying handkerchief.
Most asked questions about Mocker swallowtail
?Why is it called the mocker swallowtail?
Because many females mock, or copy, other butterflies that taste bad to birds.
?Where does the mocker swallowtail live?
All over Africa south of the Sahara, and on Madagascar.
?Do male and female mocker swallowtails look the same?
No. The males look much the same everywhere, but the females have many different patterns.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Papilio dardanus
- Named by
- Brown, 1776
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Papilionidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Papilionidae
- Lives on
- Africa
- Also known as
- African swallowtail, Saharan swallowtail, Flying handkerchief
Where the facts come from
- Papilio dardanus (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 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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