Old World Swallowtail

Papilio machaon

Average (Polygynous)

The **Old World Swallowtail** (*Papilio machaon*) is a flying Palearctic-American insect featured in the Grasslands Animal Pack DLC for *Planet Zoo*.

## Zoopedia Description

### General

**Population In Wild:** Unknown

The Old World swallowtail (or Papilio machaon) is a butterfly living in the temperate regions, woodlands and even tundras of Europe, Asia and North America. It has pale yellow wings with grey-black patterning on the forewings, and blue-black accents as well as red eyespots on the hindwings. The hindwings also have an extended ‘tail’, for which they are named swallowtail. There is no sexual dimorphism in size and appearance in the Old World swallowtail, and its average wingspan is 6.5cm to 8.6cm. The caterpillar is plump and pale green with black and orange markings on each body segment.

The species is not endangered and is considered a species of Least Concern, although populations are becoming scarcer in some regions.

### Social

Like most butterflies, the Old World swallowtail has no social needs outside of mating or competing for mates, but equally does tolerate conspecifics in its vicinity given access to enough resources.

### Reproduction

Old World swallowtail males engage in ‘hilltopping’ mating behaviour, which means males will attempt to set up and defend a territory at the highest point of a hill. Males who manage to maintain a territory at a high elevation are more likely to mate, as females will also fly to the highest points of terrain when they are ready to mate. Once a female has selected a mate, she and the male will cling to the stem of a plant, face away from each other, and connect the tips of their abdomens.

Soon after mating, she lays her eggs one by one, one per leaf. In total, she may lay 200 to 430 eggs within 4 days. 4 to 10 days after laying, the caterpillars hatch from the eggs. They feed on the soft, young leaves of food plants like carrots and fennel for 3 to 4 weeks and then spin a chrysalis.

After pupating in the chrysalis for a period of 10 to 20 days, they emerge as adult butterflies. However, if they pupated towards the end of summer, they may remain in the chrysalis until the following year, when temperatures rise again. Depending on the time of year, hatched adults either hibernate or immediately look for a mate. Old World swallowtails die a week or two after mating, so those who hibernate before may live for roughly 9 months.

## Animal Care

 HABITAT ENRICHMENT
Nectar Feeder · Ripe Fruits · Sugar Water Dish · Milkweed · Buddleja · Potted Trees · Mister · Tropical Fern

## Trivia

### Zoopedia Fun Facts

* The Old World swallowtail is the largest species of butterfly found in the UK.
* The Old World swallowtail caterpillar has an orange organ, called an osmeterium, on its head which protrudes and produces foul odours when threatened to scare off predators.
* The Old World swallowtail caterpillar is parasitized by a wasp species called Trogus lapidator that lays its eggs inside the body cavity of the caterpillar and feeds on it while it pupates, with the adult wasp emerging from the chrysalis.
* The tongue of the Old World swallowtail is adapted to feed on flowers with many small, thin, tubular petals such as dandelions.
* The Old World swallowtail is a fast, direct flier in comparison to many other species of butterflies.