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Graphium sarpedon

(Linnaeus, 1758)

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Your framed specimen is a different individual of the same species, chosen and mounted by Lucy.

Papilionidae
Butterfly

For young explorers

Its caterpillars eat the leaves of camphor trees.

Its caterpillars feed on laurel-family trees such as the camphor tree, and the adult's wings carry bright blue-green patches.

Catalog label

Family: Papilionidae
Subfamily: Papilioninae
Tribe: Leptocircini
Where it lives: China, Ceylon, South India, Kashmir - Assam, Burma, Australia.

From the catalog of Lucy Garcia Salik, PhD. A mounted specimen from a licensed supplier.

Research notes

From published sources, not from Lucy’s catalog. Each note lists where it came from.

Habitat

This butterfly does best in damp rainforest, but it also lives in drier forest and woodland. It has also adapted well to towns and cities, including the suburbs of Sydney. Butterfly surveys of built-up places have recorded it too. One example is a survey of a fast-growing urban university campus, which listed it among the species found there.

Blue Triangle Butterfly - The Australian Museum australian.museum, accessed 20 October 2026
Butterfly Diversity in a Rapidly Developing Urban Area: A Case Study on a University Campus doi.org, accessed 20 October 2026

Life cycle

Overview: the caterpillars are green. They rest on the top surface of leaves, where they blend in and are easy to miss. If disturbed, a caterpillar can push out a forked, horn-like organ from just behind its head. This organ gives off a strong smell, and in this species it is yellow. Caterpillars of this species eat leaves from laurel-family trees, including the camphor tree. Lab studies of a Japanese subspecies found that camphor leaves contain natural chemicals that prompt the caterpillars to feed.

Blue Triangle Butterfly - The Australian Museum australian.museum, accessed 20 October 2026
Feeding Stimulant in Cinnamomum camphora for the Common Bluebottle, Graphium sarpedon nipponum (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) doi.org, accessed 20 October 2026
Feeding stimulants for larvae of Graphium sarpedon nipponum (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) from Cinnamomum camphora doi.org, accessed 20 October 2026

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