Cressida cressida (Clearwing Swallowtail)

Other Common Names

Big Greasy, Greasy Swallowtail, Mimicking Papilio

Notes

I’ve seen this butterfly every time I’ve been to Cairns, but they generally don’t seem to settle at all. For a long time the only picture I had was a
poor example of a female, who was fluttering around a vine in the Cairns Botanical Gardens. She was a bit too high up for me to be able to get a decent photo, but I kept it anyway.

Fortunately, I had more luck in September 2008. I saw more of these butterflies than previously, and a couple of them even landed for me to get photos. Since then I’ve also picked up a few photos from Brisbane, Townsville and Forty Mile Scrub. I even saw one fly past me at Parramatta in Sydney – it’s a shame I didn’t get to take a photo of that one.

Sightings

Cairns – October 2005, April 2006, August 2007, September 2008, May 2010, September 2012
Brisbane – November 2008
Townsville – December 2017
Near to Forty Mile Scrub, QLD – February 2020
Darwin – April 2024

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