Papilio charopus

Papilio charopus, the tailed green-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.[2]

Tailed green-banded swallowtail
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. charopus
Binomial name
Papilio charopus
Synonyms
  • Papilio charopus montuosus Joicey & Talbot, 1927

Subspecies
  • Papilio charopus charopus (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea: Bioko)
  • Papilio charopus juventus Le Cerf, 1924[3] (TL: Congo Republic [Semliki Valley]; Congo Republic (Ituri, Kivu), western Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi) [syn. = P. c. montuosus (Joicey & Talbot, 1927; Encycl. Ent. (B3) 2 (1): 2; (TL: Congo Republic [N.W. Kivu, Upper Iowa Valley, near msisisi, 5000-6000ft]), junior synonym]

Habitat

Highland forests (Congolian forests, Lower Guinean forests).

Status

Fairly common and not threatened.

Description

The ground colour is black. The markings are metallic blue. The blue band reaches the hind wing margin in area lb.Seitz- Apex of the forewing produced and the distal margin therefore distinctly excised at the end of veins 5 and 6; forewing beneath with four large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4; the blue median band of the upper surface gradually and very considerably widened posteriorly, so that the spots of cellules 2 and 8 of the hindwing are very long and cover much more than half their cellules; the submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath of the ground-colour and consequently only indicated by their silver rings. — Ashanti to the Cameroons. [4]


Taxonomy

Papilio charopus belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of this species Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are:

References
  1. Westwood, J.O. [1842-1843]. Arcana Entomologica; or illustrations of new, rare, and interesting species 1: iv + 192 pp.
  2. Papilio charopus, Funet.fi
  3. Le Cerf, 1924 Catalogue annoté des "types" et formes nouvelles des Papilios d'Afrique contenus dans la collection du "Hill Museum" Bull. Hill. Mus. 1 (3)
  4. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • Carcasson, R.H. (1960). "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society


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