Subspecies in India
(1) Papilio helenus helenus Linnaeus, 1758 – Oriental Red Helen
Another subspecies was listed under this species, as Papilio helenus daksha Hampson, [1889] – Sahyadri Red Helen. That is now raised as a distinct species, Papilio daksha Hampson, [1889] - Large-spotted Helen. See further information here and on the species page of Papilio daksha - Large-spotted Helen.
In India, Papilio helenus is now restricted to the E. Himalaya and NE India, it does not occur in the Western Ghats and neighbouring areas.
Images of Papilio daksha are still available on this website under this species page but they will eventually move to their own species page as the website is updated.
Key references:
Joshi, J., and K. Kunte. 2022. Polytypy and systematics: diversification of Papilio swallowtail butterflies in the biogeographically complex Indo-Australian Region. bioRxiv, 2022.03.23.485569.
Condamine, F. L., R. Allio, E. L. Reboud, J. R. Dupuis, E. F. A. Toussaint, N. Mazet, S.-J. Hue, D. S. Lewis, K. Kunte, A. M. Cotton, F. A. H. Sperling. 2023. A comprehensive phylogeny and revised taxonomy illuminate the origin and diversification of the global radiation of Papilio (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 107758.
Conservation and Special status
This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
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| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT | |||||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Assam | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | |||||||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu UT | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | |||||||||||||
| Goa | |||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Kerala | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 23 | 12 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Manipur | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Mizoram | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Nagaland | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Puducherry UT | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Tripura | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | |||||||||||||
| West Bengal | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Total | 8 | 10 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 43 | 49 | 34 | 9 | 9 |
Citrus spp., Citrus limon, Clausena heptaphylla, Glycosmis pentaphylla, Toddalia asiatica, Zanthoxylum acanthopodium, Zanthoxylum rhetsa (Rutaceae).
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(4): 11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
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Page citation
Anonymous 2025. Papilio helenus Linnaeus, 1758 – Red Helen. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/papilio-helenus, accessed 2025/05/21.