Bug FAQCommon Bluebottle
Graphium sarpedon · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Papilionidae
Also called: Bluebottle, Blue Triangle, Blue Triangle Butterfly
Source: Wikipedia
Adults have black upper wings with a broad pale-blue band and brown lower wings, and they drink nectar from various flowers. The species lives in moist lowland rainforests below about 1600 m and has expanded into cinnamon plantations.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upperside is opaque black with a wide pale-blue band crossing both forewing and hindwing, broadest in the middle and slightly greenish. The underside is dark brown with a short broad sub-basal band on the hindwing and narrow crimson lines in the postdiscal area.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from about 55 mm to 75 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found mainly in moist, low-level rainforests below 1600 m. Larvae also occur in cinnamon tree plantations.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Adults sip nectar from a variety of flowering herbs. Larvae eat leaves of trees in the Lauraceae, Myrtaceae, Sapotaceae and Rutaceae families. Recorded host plants include several Lauraceae such as cinnamon, camphor and other related trees.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Eggs are yellowish and laid singly on host leaves. Pupae are green with a pointed thoracic projection, yellowish wing cases and lateral bands.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Seen migrating in South India and often mud-puddles during migration.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Occurs across East, South and Southeast Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The South Indian/Sri Lankan race teredon has a narrower medial blue band than the common form.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the caterpillars eat?
They feed on leaves of many trees, especially those in the laurel family such as cinnamon, camphor and related species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where can I see this butterfly?
In moist lowland rainforests below 1600 m and in cinnamon plantations across East, South and Southeast Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
How big is the common bluebottle?
Its wingspan is typically between 55 mm and 75 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
How can I tell it apart from similar butterflies?
Look for the wide pale-blue band across both wings and the narrower band in the South Indian race teredon.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Papilionidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphium_sarpedon
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.