Stresemann's Swallowtail is found on Seram (Ceram, Serang) island in Indonesia. It has been found only at altitudes above 3,250' (1000m). There is some disagreement as to whether it's really a different species from Graphium batjanensis, or Graphium chironides, so even on species lists this species can be hard to find. However, it's considered vulnerable, and much has been published about it. All this web site knows is what I read so this web site will, in its half-educated way, summarize what's been written about Graphium stresemanni.
It was first described as a separate species by Rothschild in 1915, late even in his career, which is why it was named after a contemporary person rather than a character in literature. Gustav Stresemann was a popular politician in Germany between the wars, credited with the "restoration" of the Weimar Republic government system, which was a failure, but much less hated in other countries than the would-be empires that came before and after it.
What Rothschild wrote about it, when adding this name to the long list of Graphium species, was:
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3. Differs from w. weiske in the hindwings being much wider and more rounded. Above it diflers from the green 9 of w. weiskei and the 3 w. goodenovit on the forewings by the nile-green patches being sky-blue, and the one below vein | is also shorter. On the hindwing above, the basal green spot and the basal portion of cell and the patch above veins land 4 are densely clothed with long white hairs not present in the 2 other forms: it also differs in having a complete row of 5 medium-sized pale blue submarginal spots. The green basal area of cell is much larger, and at its apical end, together with the 2 spots above veins | and 4, passes into sky-blue. Below on forewing the patches, which are white in w. weiskei, are pale blue, and on hindwing the green patch below cell passes into blue.
Expanse 91 mm. Length of forewing 43 mm.
Hab. Mansuela, Central Ceram, 650 m., 1912 (E. Stresemann).
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Nevertheless he called it a subspecies of Graphium weiskei. More recent writers think it's distinct from weiskei but may be an isolated race or subspecies of another Graphium species. It does not look very similar to Graphium batjanensis, or G. chironides, to me--for one thing it has "swallow tails"--but, with butterflies, appearances can be deceptive.
A later writer said that the adult butterflies had been found feeding on flowers in the genus Eugenia.
Because many people will never see this butterfly alive, several web sites sell images of it, often taken from photographs by Danita Delimont or Darrell Gulin. Some sell dead bodies, which is an abomination; the best thing to be said for this practice is that people who pay $35 online for a butterfly carcass are likely to get, if anything, a more common kind of butterfly.
It is vulnerable because it's rare. There aren't many Graphium stresemanni even in their habitat.
It is considered "closely related" to Graphium codrus and G. weiskei. It doesn't gleam quite as weirdly as codrus or have the purple color of weiskei, but it has similar spots. The background color of the wings is brown to sable--often a rich cocoa brown. The spots iridesce blue and green, usually more bluish toward the body and more greenish toward the outside edge, but it depends on the light. There are also translucent patches. It is an eye-catching species.
Photo from Biolib.cz.
Females may be slightly larger than males and have slightly less vivid coloring:
Photo from Biolib.cz. The male shown had a wingspread of 3.5 cm, the female 4 cm.
Nobody knows what it lives on or how it lives. Educated guesses have been made that the caterpillar eats the leaves of something in the laurel family, but nobody has confirmed this.
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