Chinese Peacock Coloring Pages

A butterfly with rainbow sparkles on its black wings!

The Chinese Peacock is a butterfly in the swallowtail family that lives in Japan's countryside hills and forests. Their wings are mostly black, but when the light hits them, they sparkle and shine in iridescent, blue-green, and purple colors. They look so pretty! They got their name because their shine looks just like a wet crow's feathers.

The English name for the Chinese Peacock is Papilio dehaanii. It was named after Willem de Haan, a Dutch scientist who helped study Japanese animals. The Japanese name "Karasu Ageha" comes from its wings being black like a crow.

Where do they live?

The Chinese Peacock lives in Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and parts of Hokkaido), as well as across a wide area of East Asia, including the Korean Peninsula, China, and Russia.

• Habitat in Japan: They mainly live in places with lots of nature, like thickets in flat areas and mountains, and along stream valleys. You can find them even if you don't go as deep into high mountains as the Alpine Black Swallowtail.
  • They like places with trees like Japanese Hercules-club and Amur cork tree, which the caterpillars eat. If these trees are around, you might even see them in parks or gardens.

What do the patterns on its body look like?

The wing patterns of the Chinese Peacock are slightly different between males and females.

• Basic wing colors: The body is mostly black, but it is covered in shiny scales that sparkle like a rainbow depending on the angle.
• Males: Their wings are very shiny, with eye-catching blue-green and blue-purple sparkles. Their back wings have tail-like points (tail projections).
• Females: Their wings look blacker than the male's, and they are a little less shiny. You can often see bright red spots on their back wings.
• Size: Their wingspan (wings spread wide) is about 9 centimeters to 12 centimeters. They are on the larger side for swallowtail butterflies.

What do they eat?

The Chinese Peacock eats different things as it grows up.

• Caterpillars: They mostly eat leaves from plants in the citrus family, like the crow prickly ash, Japanese cork tree, and Japanese pepper.
• Adult Chinese Peacocks: They get their food by drinking nectar from flowers. They love flowers like thistles and harlequin glorybowers. You can also often see them sitting on wet ground to drink water.

How long does the Chinese Peacock live?

The Chinese Peacock appears 2 to 3 times a year.

• The adults live for a short time, just a few weeks.
• In winter, they spend the cold months as a chrysalis and wait for the next spring.

How to Choose Colors: Show the Rainbow Shine Hidden in Black Wings!

For the Chinese Peacock coloring page, it is fun to start with black and show the hidden shine of blue and green.

• Black wings: Color the whole area neatly with dark black or dark navy blue.
• Rainbow shine: Over the black, layer your colored pencils in dark blue, deep green, and purple. Do not press too hard! If you layer the colors at different angles, it will look shiny and sparkling.
• Pattern on the back: When you color the underside of the wings, use gray or light brown as the base, and add red spots as a cool accent.

Coloring Tips: Think About the Shine and Wing Lines!

• How to make it look shiny: If you layer a little bit of light blue or sky blue over the dark colors, it will look like it is reflecting light.
• Make it look 3D: Make the base of the wings (the part close to the body) darker, and make the tips of the wings lighter. This will make the wings look 3D!

Tips for Having Fun with Your Coloring Page!

• Color it any way you like!
• You do not have to stick to real colors. You can color it in any way that makes you think, "I wish a Chinese Peacock like this existed!" An original butterfly, like a grasshopper with a gold body or a butterfly with a pink body, is lots of fun too!
• Try adding a background!
• Where is the Chinese Peacock flying? If you draw a flower field in the mountains or a forest with sunlight filtering through the trees, your picture will look even more alive!