---
title: "Old World Swallowtail"
description: "Papilio machaon — Insetti e ragni. Papilio machaon, the Old World swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/old-world-swallowtail
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Old World Swallowtail

> Papilio machaon — Insetti e ragni. Papilio machaon, the Old World swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.

- Scientific name: *Papilio machaon*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi)
- iNaturalist observations: 68109
- Wikidata: [Q179530](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q179530)
- iNaturalist taxon: [56529](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/56529)

## Names

- en: Old World Swallowtail
- de: Schwalbenschwanz
- es: Mariposa cometa macaón
- fr: Machaon
- nl: Koninginnenpage
- pl: Paź królowej

## Countries with the most observations

FR (9453), IT (9200), ES (7629), RU (6762), DE (4630), PT (4104), AT (3020), CH (2152), GR (1739), UA (1274), CZ (1173), PL (1056)

## Summary

Papilio machaon, the Old World swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. The butterfly is also known as the common yellow swallowtail or simply the swallowtail (a common name applied to all members of the family, but this species was the first to be given the name). It is the type species of the genus Papilio. This widespread species is found in much of the Palearctic and in North America.

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

## Photo

![Old World Swallowtail](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/old-world-swallowtail/medium.jpg)

Photo: Marino Linić · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/117549263

## Machine access

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