Website of Tobias Westmeier

Blue Triangle
Graphium sarpedon (Linnaeus, 1758)

Blue Triangle
The Blue Triangle is a restless butterfly that hardly ever settles. (Lane Cove NP, NSW, 06 / 03 / 2010)

Appearance: Unmistakable. Both upperside and underside dark brown with large, triangular, light-blue patch extending across both wings.
Wingspan: 6 cm
Season: 2 or more generations; from spring until autumn in NSW and southern QLD, all year round in northern QLD.
Range: Eastern Australia; from Cape York Peninsula along eastern QLD and the northern and central coast of NSW. Migrants very rarely reach the ACT.
Habitat: Usually rainforest and monsoon forest in moist lowland areas. Also suburban gardens and parks.

Notes

The Blue Triangle is a common and widespread species along the east coast of Australia from the NSW central coast all the way up to Cape York. The butterflies are usually highly active and fly very rapidly without ever resting, making it extremely difficult to observe this species. Occasionally, they will feed from flowers or settle on the ground to take up water and minerals, often with their wings still vibrating.

Additional Photos

Blue Triangle
View of the underside with the characteristic pale-blue triangle. (Kuala Lumpur Butterfly Park, Malaysia, 18 / 09 / 2012)
Blue Triangle
Even when feeding from flowers, the butterflies often continue vibrating their wings. (Sydney, NSW, 07 / 03 / 2010)
Blue Triangle
One usually doesn't get to see much more than a blue flash of this highly active and fast-flying species. (Lane Cove NP, NSW, 06 / 03 / 2010)