The last Graphium species we'll meet here, at least until the reclassification of Chinese species sorts itself out, is Graphium xenocles, the Great Zebra. (You may remember that Graphium macareus is the Lesser Zebra. The wings look somewhat alike, but xenocles is much bigger.) Graphium xenocles is regarded as having several subspecies, scattered through southern Asia. It is found in India, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Vietnam, and parts of China.
Photo by Rejoice Gassah at https://indiabiodiversity.org/observation/show/16924019. The organization notes that the butterfly was found in a "tropical wet evergreen forest," with temperatures between 23-25 C and rainfall between 240-280 cm in March and April, when this species is usually seen.
Greater and Lesser Zebras are photographed together, among many other species, at
The list is more complete, the photos less stunning, at
The species as a whole does not seem to be in any danger. Local populations are threatened by the usual menaces to butterfly survival, which also, of course, threaten rare and endangered species. In India the Great and Lesser Zebras share habitat with endangered Birdwings, and all of those populations, along with the smaller "commoner" species, may become endangered.
It was named in 1842, in honor of Xenocles, an award-winning Greek playwright who lived about 400 years before Christ or Caesar. The name was popular; there were also poets, an athlete, a teacher, and a politician called Xenocles. It derives from two words that were often combined into names in ancient Greece, xenos meaning "outsider, foreign, stranger, visitor, traveller, guest," and cleos meaning "famous, distinguished"; it can be translated as "distinguished guest" or "famous among travellers, a good host," though ancient Greeks probably heard it as just another man's name.
The upper wings of this butterfly are usually black and white, the white stripes and dots sometimes appearing greenish or bluish. True to the general rule that male Swallowtails show clearer colors and more contrast, butterflies with black and white underwings are likely to be male.
Photo by Shirdipam,April, West Bengal.
The underwings are often brown and white. Brown stripes are more likely to appear pale or drab in males and bright chestnut brown in females, but individuals vary. This seems a departure from the usual Swallowtail pattern. Females of this species who look different from their brothers may look more like the butterflies, some similar to our Monarchs, that they mimic.
Photo from https://www.wildmentor.de/index.php/species-details/fb9d02b4-c4ba-4396-8075-99c5cd5e5db6 .
An orange or yellow spot can be conspicuous at the corner of the hind wings; the spots are more often conspicuous in some subspecies than in others. The yellow spot can look almost like a firefly's tail light.
Photo by Amir92.
Variations in the pattern of stripes and dots can identify subspecies. This and other species are considered mimics of a different butterfly found in some of the same places, Parantica melaneus.
Great Zebra shares a puddle with another popular Asian Swallowtail, the Red Helen. This photo and others, including a nice clear photo of Parantica melaneus, can be found at
As in many Swallowtail species, males gather at puddles along with other males of this and other species. In this stock video from Ponds, we see Great Zebras among other Graphiums and some smaller butterflies at a puddle.
The subspecies of Great Zebra include:
Graphium xenocles kephisos, found in Burma and Vietnam
Photos from Wingscales.com.
Photos of Great Zebras in Vietnam:
Graphium xenocles lindos, found in Thailand and Cambodia. Some photos of this subspecies and other Asian Swallowtails are at
Photo from wingscales.com.
A museum collection of G.x. lindos:
Graphium xenocles phrontis, found in India.
Photo by Supratimdeb, April, India. This butterfly looks faded partly because it was photographed in bright sunlight, perhaps also because it was female, and also because it was G.x. phrontis.
Here is a gallery of mostly male phrontis, mostly found at puddles.
Graphium xenocles xenocles, found in the Himalayan parts of India, Sikkim, Assam, and in Bhutan
Photo by Rohit Girotra for Ifoundbutterflies.org.
Graphium xenocles xenoclides, found in parts of China, is less well known. The only photos I could find were of dead specimens:
Like other Swallowtails, it favors small flowers, presumably because Swallowtails have relatively shorter probosces than other butterflies.
Photo by Cavefishsupremacy, February, Vietnam.
And what is it about Swallowtails and the color blue?
Photo by Pemayangdenlepcha, Sikkim (India).
Apparently some of them sometimes look bright blue, themselves...
Photo by Savethitiphon, April, Thailand.
This caterpillar was found in May and reared; it grew up to be Graphium xenocles. Its host plant, shown, is Miliusa sinensis.
Photo by Abyssss at INaturalist.org.
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