Eurytides philolaus

Eurytides philolaus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Eurytides
Species:	E. philolaus
Binomial name
Eurytides philolaus (Boisduval, 1836) [1]
Synonyms
Papilio philolausBoisduval, 1836 Graphium philolaus Protographium philolaus Neographium philolaus Papilio philolaus ajaxEimer, 1889 (preocc. Linnaeus, 1758) Papilio philolaus nigrescensEimer, 1889 Papilio philolaus f. nigerEimer, 1889 Papilio philolaus ab. felicisFruhstorfer, 1904 Eurytides philolaus f. vazquezaeBeutelspacher, 1976 Papilio xanticlesBates, 1863 Papilio plaesiolausStaudinger, 1884 Papilio xanticles var. phileonraHaase, 1892 Papilio xanticles f. schebaRothschild & Jordan, 1906 Eurytides xanticles Neographium xanticles

Eurytides philolaus, the dark zebra swallowtail or dark kite-swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found from southern Texas to northern South America. ^[2]

The wingspan is 90–95 mm.

"Antenna black; the 7. pale green band of the forewing only represented by a spot; hindwing with 2 red spots posteriorly; on the under surface the red line of the hindwing edged with black at both sides, undulate anteriorly. Scent-scales of the male short, broad, irregular, produced in a number of filaments. The female is in 2 forms: female f. philolaus Boisd. similar to the male, the underside paler, female f. niger Eimer (nigrescens Eimer; felicis Fruhst.) the pale green bands of the membrane of the wings scaled with black, the wings therefore black with slight traces of the bands." ^[3]

Biology

The butterfly is found in low situations, often resting in crowds on the sand at the edge of rivers. The larvae feed on Annonaceae species.

Subspecies

There are two recognised subspecies:

• Eurytides philolaus philolaus (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, southern Texas) ^[4]
• Eurytides philolaus xanticles(Bates, 1863) (Panama, northern Colombia, northern Venezuela) ^[5]

References

1. Protographium at funet
2. Butterflies and Moths of North America
3. Jordan, K. , in Seitz, A. ( 1907) . The Macrolepidoptera of the World. 5: The Macrolepidoptera of the American faunistic region. Papilionidae 1-45
4. Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World ISBN   0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 2
5. Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World ISBN   0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 7

Further reading

• Edwin Möhn, 2002 Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the world Part XIIII (14), Papilionidae VIII: Baronia, Euryades, Protographium, Neographium, Eurytides. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books. ISBN   978-3-931374-87-7 All species and subspecies are included, also most of the forms. Several females are shown the first time in colour.