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FAMILY PAPILIONIDAE
This page contains information and pictures about Dingy
Swallowtail Butterflies in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Wingspan 60mm, about to fly away from Tony's hand
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- The butterflies are also called Dainty Swallowtails and sometimes
Small Citrus Butterflies. They are the smallest swallowtail
butterflies in Australia. On their wings there are white patterns on black and red patches.
Their body is black in colour with yellow abdomen tip.
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![wpe2C.jpg (21369 bytes)](images/Dingy.10.jpg)
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- We sometime see them
flying alone on bushland. They fly in sunny places with a slow gliding
type of flight, flying back and forth. If disturbed they fly away rapidly, but
will return to the same place and resume the gliding later. They seldom stop
or rest so taking their photos are difficult.
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![wpe20.jpg (45580 bytes)](images/Dingy.12.jpg)
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- Dingy Swallowtail caterpillars are dark green to black in colour with yellow and
white spots. They feed on citrus trees, include the Orange and lemon trees. Pupae are
green to brown in colour and look like a broken
stick.
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![PAPILI6.jpg (28568 bytes)](images/PAPILI6_small.jpg)
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Rearing Dingy
Swallowtail Caterpillar I
![wpeC.jpg (45394 bytes)](images/PAPILI3.jpg)
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- In late summer we found a Dingy Swallowtail caterpillar on a citrus tree and
tried to raise
it to become a butterfly. The caterpillar turned into a pupa after two days. We had no luck,
after a long wait, just found that the caterpillar was parasitised by the Tachnid Flies.
We saw the fly larva came out from the pupa instead of a butterfly. We were a
bit disappointed although we had already learnt that parasitised by Tachnid
Flies are common.
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Rearing Dingy
Swallowtail Caterpillar II
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![wpe12.jpg (25133 bytes)](images/Dingy.4.jpg)
- Caterpillar, length 30mm
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- The mid-summer next year, we found another Dingy Swallowtail caterpillar on the same
citrus tree. We tried our luck again. We kept the caterpillar in a jar
covered with cloth. We also kept plenty of citrus leaves in our refrigerator so
that we were able to supply the caterpillar with fresh food everyday. We
cleaned the jar every two days.
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![wpe12.jpg (25201 bytes)](images/Dingy.6.jpg)
- Pupa, length 20mm
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- The caterpillar turned into a pupa a few days later. We knew if the
butterfly come out, it will need some space to extend its wings. So we kept
the stem with the pupa in a large jar and made sure there was plenty of
room. Then cross our fingers and waited to see the butterfly.
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![](images/Dingy.8_small.jpg)
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- Yes, finally we saw a beautiful Dingy
Swallowtail Butterfly came out from the pupa. It took about 10 days for the pupa
turned into a butterfly. It came out during the mid night while we were
sleeping and we saw it hanging from its pupa early in the morning. After we
took some pictures, we let go the butterfly in our backyard. The butterfly
stated on Tony's hand for about a minute, had a bit of warm up. Then the wind
come, the butterfly flip its wing and fly up to the sky without any practice,
disappeared from our eye-sight in a few seconds.
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