The Great Mormon Butterfly (Papilio memnon), a member of the Swallowtail Family (Papilionidae) is one of most spectacular and largest butterflies that I’ve encountered in Thailand. The female of the species is this week’s featured travel photo - the picture was taken just off the roadside in Northern Thailand, not far from the city of Mae Salong in Chiang Rai Province.

Unlike her cousins in North America (i.e. The Tiger and Anise Swallowtail etc), this Thai swallowtail is very clumsy and a relatively slow flyer. The male and female of the species look completely different in terms of their coloration. The female as depicted in this photograph is multicolored with black spots on creme colored hindwings, while the male is almost completely black.

Other related swallowtails in Southeast Asia, more commonly known as birdwings, look remarkably similar to the Great Mormon in terms of their physical characteristics and are also relatively slow fliers.

Isn’t this female Great Mormon a beauty? A real whopper of a name too! I bet you didn’t know that there were Mormons in a Buddhist country like Thailand? Now you know.

Coming up soon is the story of the Monarch Butterfly Annual Migration from North America to the Highlands of Central Mexico. One of nature’s greatest phenomenons.