---
title: "Citrus Swallowtail"
description: "Papilio demodocus — Insects & spiders. Papilio demodocus, the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly, is a swallowtail butterfly which commonly occurs over the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa , including Madagascar, besides the southern Arabian Peninsula."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/citrus-swallowtail
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Citrus Swallowtail

> Papilio demodocus — Insects & spiders. Papilio demodocus, the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly, is a swallowtail butterfly which commonly occurs over the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa , including Madagascar, besides the southern Arabian Peninsula.

- Scientific name: *Papilio demodocus*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: unknown
- iNaturalist observations: 8207
- Wikidata: [Q133397](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133397)
- iNaturalist taxon: [68469](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/68469)

## Names

- en: Citrus Swallowtail
- es: Papilio de los Cítricos
- fr: Voilier des citronniers

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (4436), KE (394), TZ (350), BJ (242), MG (198), ZW (171), UG (170), ZM (147), NA (139), GH (137), GM (130), NG (114)

## Summary

Papilio demodocus, the citrus swallowtail or Christmas butterfly, is a swallowtail butterfly which commonly occurs over the entirety of sub-Saharan Africa , including Madagascar, besides the southern Arabian Peninsula. The caterpillars feed on various native plants of especially the family Rutaceae, but have also taken to the leaves of cultivated citrus trees.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papilio_demodocus

## Photo

![Citrus Swallowtail](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/citrus-swallowtail/medium.jpg)

Photo: Klaus Wehrlin · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197006550

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/citrus-swallowtail?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).