A genus of tropical and subtropical butterflies, commonly called swordtails, characterized by elongated hindwing tails.
From Greek graphe 'writing' or related to graphein 'to write,' possibly referring to markings, combined with -ium. Named by Fabricius in the early 1800s.
Graphium butterflies have evolved long tail extensions on their wings that actually trick predators into attacking the tail instead of the body — a brilliant survival strategy disguised as decoration!
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