Battus (butterfly)

Battus
Pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Polydamas swallowtail (Battus polydamas)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Tribe:	Troidini
Genus:	Battus Scopoli, 1777
Type species
Papilio polydamas Linnaeus, 1758
Species
See text

Battus is a New World genus of butterflies that are usually found around pipevine (genus Aristolochia ) plants. The caterpillars feed off the poisonous pipevines, making the insects poisonous themselves; they taste very bad to ward off predators. ^[1] Since birds avoid these butterflies, other swallowtail species mimic their coloration. The common North American species are Battus polydamas and Battus philenor .

Etymology

In Greek mythology, Battus is a shepherd who witnessed Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle. Because he broke his promise not to reveal this theft, Hermes turned him to stone.

Species

Listed alphabetically within groups: ^{[2] [3]}

subgenus: BattuosaMöhn, 1999

species group: belusMöhn, 1999

• Battus belus (Cramer, 1777) – Belus swallowtail
• Battus crassus (Cramer, 1777) – Crassus swallowtail
• Battus eracon (Godman & Salvin, 1897) – west-Mexican swallowtail, Colima swallowtail
• Battus ingenuus (Dyar, 1907) – Dyar's swallowtail, confused swallowtail
• Battus laodamas (C. & R. Felder, 1859) – green-patch swallowtail, yellow-spotted swallowtail
• Battus lycidas (Cramer, [1777]) – Cramer's swallowtail, yellow-trailed swallowtail
• Battus polystictus (Butler, 1874)

species group: madyesMöhn, 1999

• Battus madyes (Doubleday, 1846) – Madyes swallowtail

subgenus: BattusMöhn, 1999

species group: philenor

• Battus devilliersii (Godart, 1823)
• Battus philenor (Linnaeus, 1771) – pipevine swallowtail
• Battus zetides (Munroe, 1971) – Zetides swallowtail

species group: polydamusMöhn, 1999

• Battus polydamas (Linnaeus, 1758) – Polydamas swallowtail, gold rim swallowtail, or tailless swallowtail

• 
  Museum specimen of Battus philenor
• 
  Battus philenor caterpillar, high-temperature red form
• 
  Battus philenor caterpillar, low temperature black form
• 
  Battus philenor pupa

References

1. Pinheiro, Carlos E.G. (1996) Palatability and escaping ability in Neotropical butterflies: tests with wild kingbirds (Tyrannus melancholicus, Tyrannidae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 59(4): 351–365. HTML abstract
2. Battus, funet.fi
3. Glassberg, J. (2007) A Swift Guide to the Butterflies of Mexico and Central America, Sunstreak Books, pp.8-9.

• Edwin Möhn, 2002 Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the World Part V (5), Papilionidae II: Battus. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books. ISBN   978-3-931374-70-9 Illustrates and identifies 14 species and 49 subspecies.

External links

• Battus Archived 2017-10-22 at the Wayback Machine , Insects Online
• Battus, BugGuide
• Battus Butterflies of America. Mostly types.