Papilio rex

Papilio rex, the regal swallowtail or king papilio, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.[3] It is a semi-montane and montane forest (1, 300 m. to 2 600 m.) species. The larvae feed on Teclea tricocarpa, Teclea stuhlmanni, Calodendrum, Citrus, Clausena, Fagara and Toddalia species. In the early morning and late afternoon adults of both sexes descend from the forest canopy to feed from the flowers of Lantana, Impatiens and Bougainvillea. It hilltops on granite outcrops and mud puddles.[4]

Papilio rex
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. rex
Binomial name
Papilio rex
Synonyms
  • Papilio mimeticus Rothschild, 1897
  • Papilio schultzei Aurivillius, 1904
  • Papilio rex var. arnoldi Richelmann, 1909
  • Papilio abyssinicus Poulton, 1926
  • Papilio rex f. commixta Aurivillius, 1908
  • Papilio rexi f. commixta Aurivillius, 1908
  • Papilio rex var. alinderi f. lindblomi Bryk, 1928
  • Papilio rex f. intermediata Bryk, 1930
  • Papilio rex alinderi f. holmi Bryk, 1953
  • Papilio rex barnsi Le Cerf, 1924
  • Papilio rex var. regulus Le Cerf, 1919
  • Papilio rex ab. eisneri Bryk, 1928
  • Papilio rex f. endymion Stoneham, 1951

The Kenyan forms mimic Tirumala formosa, the forest monarch butterfly.

Description

The ground colour is black. There are numerous white markings and the base of the forewing is orange brown (sometimes black with a white streak in males).

Taxonomy

Papilio rex is a member of the dardanus species group. The members of the clade are:

Subspecies
  • Papilio rex rex (Kenya (east of the Rift Valley), north-eastern Tanzania, central Tanzania)
  • Papilio rex mimeticus Rothschild, 1897[5] (Congo Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, western Kenya)
  • Papilio rex franciscae Carpenter, 1928 (southern Sudan, south-western Ethiopia)[6]
  • Papilio rex alinderi Bryk, 1928[7] (Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))
  • Papilio rex schultzei Aurivillius, 1904[8] (eastern Nigeria, highlands of Cameroon)
  • Papilio rex abyssinicana Vane-Wright, 1995[9] (highlands of south-eastern Ethiopia)
  • Papilio rex regulana Vane-Wright, 1995 (Kenya (highlands east of the Rift Valley))

Biogeographic realm

Afrotropical realm

References
  1. Oberthür, C. 1886. [No title]. Bulletin de la Societe Entomologique de France (6) 6: 114-115.
  2. Papilio, Site of Markku Savela
  3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Papilionini". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  4. Larsen, 1991 The butterflies of Kenya and their natural history 352, 443 (490 pp.). Oxford.
  5. Rothschild, W., 1897 On a new species of Papilio from Uganda Entomologist 30 165 Full text
  6. Carpenter, 1928. Two collections of butterflies from the S.E. corner of the Sudan. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 76: 25-54.
  7. Bryk, F. 1928. Ueber den Mimetismus der afrikanischen Papilio-Arten. Societas Entomologia 43: 13-16.
  8. Aurivillius, Per Olof Christopher, 1904 Insekten-Börse 21 (48): 363 Full text
  9. Ackery, P.R., Smith, C.R., Vane-Wright, R.I. 1995. Carcasson's African Butterflies: An annotated Catalogue of the Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea of the Afrotropical Region. British Museum (Natural History), London: i-xi, 1-803. ISBN 978-0-643-05561-2
  • 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)
  • Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN 978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.


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