Christmas swallowtail
Papilio memnon Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedbutterflies and moths
The christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon) is a species in the family Papilionidae, order Lepidoptera.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the christmas swallowtail
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 11.2 cm – 13.5 cm
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- On the wing
- All year
- Generations a year
- Several
- Larval food plants
- Rutaceae family
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the christmas swallowtail?
Where does the christmas swallowtail live?
Not recorded
Is the christmas swallowtail endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the christmas swallowtail classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyPapilionidae
- genusPapilio
- SpeciesPapilio memnon Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Papilio agenor, Papilio agenor heronus, Papilio androgeos, Papilio angustus, Papilio laomedon, Papilio memmon, Papilio memnon agenor, Papilio memnon clathratus, Papilio memnon f. yunnanensis, Papilio memnon heronus, Papilio memnon imperiosus, Papilio memnon memnoides, Papilio memnon perlucidus, Papilio memnon pryeri, Papilio memnon pseudolampsacus, Papilio memnon subclathratus
Other names and names in other languages (18)
- Great MormonEnglish
- Great Mormon swallowtailEnglish
- বৃহৎ মৰমনAssamese
- বনকালিমBangla
- Großer MormoneGerman
- mariposa golondrina memnonSpanish
- Grand mormonFrench
- Kupu kupu pasturIndonesian
- Grande mormoneItalian
- ナガサキアゲハJapanese
- 멤논제비나비Korean
- Grote mormoonvlinderDutch
- mångformig riddarfjärilSwedish
- 美凤蝶Chinese
- MormonenfalterGerman
- スンダナガサキアゲハJapanese
- 大鳳蝶Chinese
- 美鳳蝶Chinese
Relatives of the christmas swallowtail
Other species in the same genus Papilio.

Swallowtail
Papilio machaon
Lemon butterfly
Papilio demoleus
Alexanor swallowtail
Papilio alexanor
Orange dog
Papilio demodocus
Common Mormon swallowtail
Papilio polytes
Corsican swallowtail
Papilio hospiton
CompareChristmas swallowtail vs SwallowtailChristmas swallowtail vs Lemon butterflyChristmas swallowtail vs Alexanor swallowtailChristmas swallowtail vs Orange dog
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the christmas swallowtail?
An adult christmas swallowtail has a wingspan of 11.2 cm – 13.5 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the christmas swallowtail?
The christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon) belongs to the family Papilionidae in the order Lepidoptera.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Shirey, V., Larsen, E., Doherty, A. et al. (2022) LepTraits 1.0: a globally comprehensive dataset of butterfly traits. Scientific Data 9: 382. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01473-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19874602.v1 - Northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits (raw datasets) · CC BY 4.0 · 2024-12-17
Logghe, G., Batsleer, F., Maes, D. et al. (2025) An in-depth dataset of northwestern European arthropod life histories and ecological traits. Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e146785. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e146785. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13379714 - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits · CC BY 4.0 · 1.0-2022-06-17
Mull, C.G., Pacoureau, N., Pardo, S.A. et al. (2022) Sharkipedia: a curated open access database of shark and ray life history traits and abundance time-series. Scientific Data 9: 559. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01655-1. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6656525 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b - TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe · CC BY 4.0 · 2.0
Chauvier, Y., Adde, A., Bergamini, A. et al. (2025) TraitCH: a multi-taxa functional trait dataset for Switzerland and Europe. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15063844 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/christmas-swallowtail
“Christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/christmas-swallowtail.
@misc{christmas_swallowtail_2026,
title = {Christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/christmas-swallowtail},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}