Papilio bianor Cramer, [1777]
Chinese peacock
July 31 - August 1, 1999 - Tokyo - Tokyo - Japan © Frédéric Vivien
The identification of the butterfly photographed here may seem to be a joke. As it was the only photo I took of a butterfly in Japan I did my best to put a name on it. I took a list of the few Papilionidae living in Japan and I checked all species one by one. I believe this photograph is of a Papilio bianor because of the few blue scales, of the red spots, and because most of the hindwings are black.