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List of swallowtail family butterflies that are found in India

This is a list of the butterflies of family Papilionidae (superfamily Papilionoidea), or the swallowtails, which are found in India. This family of large and beautiful butterflies is well represented with 89 species found within Indian borders. Two of the three papilionid subfamilies are represented in India, namely, the Parnassiinae or Apollos, with 19 species, and the Papilioninae or swallowtails, with 70 species. The area of India falls in the Indomalayan realm, except for the Himalayas above and beyond the foothills adjoining the Indo Gangetic Plains, and which fall in the Palearctic realm, resulting in increased diversity of papilionid butterflies, especially the Parnassiini or snow Apollos, all species of which are Palearctic. Indian swallowtails are spread over all the biomes/ecoregions of India. The Malabar banded peacock (Papilio buddha) and the Malabar banded swallowtail (Papilio liomedon) fly at sea level while the Apollos (Parnassius species), are to be found only in the highest alpine meadows of the Himalayas. Some species such as the common Mormon (Papilio polytes) and the blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor) fly at ground level whereas others, such as the tailed jay (Graphium agamemnon) are normally found flying high in the forest canopy. The lime butterfly (Papilio demoleus) is a creature of arid scrub land, occasionally being spotted even in the Thar Desert, while the tropical evergreen forests have their own representatives, such as the red Helen (Papilio helenus), the common bluebottle (Graphium cloanthus) and the Malabar raven (Papilio dravidarum). Indian papilionids such as the common Mormon (Papilio polytes) and great Mormon (Papilio memnon) show polymorphism with many mimetic female forms. Amongst swallowtails, endemism is found only in the Western Ghats. Notable endemics are the southern birdwing (Troides minos), Malabar banded swallowtail (Papilio liomedon), Malabar raven (Papilio dravidarum), Malabar rose (Pachliopta pandiyana) and the Malabar banded peacock (Papilio buddha). This list is based on A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India by R. K. Varshney and Peter Smetacek (2015).

The swallowtails are generally easily identified in the field by their large size, prominent markings, colour, patterns and variable wing and tail shape.

Black bodied swallowtails, often distinctively marked, some widely distributed, which are edible and form Batesian mimicry complexes with danaines or red bodied swallowtails. Some species are polymorphic, mostly in the female forms.

The Parnassiinae include about 50 medium sized, white or yellow high altitude butterflies that are distributed across Asia, Europe and North America, of which 19 species fly in India.