Papilio aegeus

Orchard Swallowtail, Large Citrus Butterfly at Copmanhurst, NSW

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Identification history

Papilio aegeus	7 May 2025	DiBickers
Papilio aegeus	7 May 2025	CarbonAI
Papilio aegeus	7 May 2025	MazzV

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User's notes

I greatly admire people who can capture quality photos of butterflies on the wing, especially having tried to myself. Apologies, for these photos are not (quality, that is)! These 2 predominantly black butterflies with white markings were fluttering around each other over quite some distance and time. However their makings were distinctly different. One had only white on black, an almost diagonal line through the top corner of the fore wind, (both upper & lower sides), and a large white patch on the hind wings, (again, both upper & lower sides). It is the butterfly closest to the RHS in photos 1 & 2. The other butterfly (Left-most in photo’s 1 & 2), whilst also predominantly black, had distinct red markings towards the outer edge of the hind wing, below that wings large white patch, and a large white patch on the fore wing which merged to grey towards the outer edge, and the black edge intruded into the top of that white patch (photo 4 particularly demonstrates the latter, while photos 1 & 2 (butterfly to the LHS) show the red markings, albeit unclearly). I’m tempted to think this is an Orchard Swallowtail. These, and/ butterflies very similar in appearance, are common at this site (Copmanhurst NSW North Coast) from approx. mid Spring to mid-Autumn. (Another is at Sighting 4667491)

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Location information

Places Copmanhurst, NSW

Sighting information

2 Abundance
MazzV Recorded by
Collections
MazzV NatureMapr New South Wales North Coast Latest Swallowtails (Papilionidae) Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) Insects

Additional information

50mm or larger Animal size

Species information

Papilio aegeus Scientific name
Orchard Swallowtail, Large Citrus Butterfly Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 1046.77m Recorded at altitude
553 images trained Machine learning
External link More information
Synonyms
Princeps aegeus

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania