Parides erithalion, the variable cattleheart, is a North and South American butterfly in the family Papilionidae.

[1] The upperside of the wings is black with a row of red postmedian spots.

The underside of the wings is also black with a row of pink and whitish spots.

(4a) from Central Colombia (Rio Magdalena) has in the male rarely a white spot on the forewing, which is placed before the 1. median or between the radials.

Female: band on the hindwing narrow, curved, separated from the cell.

[6] A full description is provided by Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan (1906).