Green dragontail | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Papilionidae |
Genus: | Lamproptera |
Species: | L. meges |
Binomial name | |
Lamproptera meges (Zinken-Sommer, 1831) | |
Lamproptera meges, the green dragontail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae) found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. [1] There are ten subspecies. [1] A specimen from Java is the type species of the genus Lamproptera. [2]
A small butterfly, the green dragontail has a wingspan of 40 to 55 millimetres (1.6 to 2.2 in). It is basically black and white in colour scheme, it has a very large white-tipped tail, 25 to 40 millimetres (0.98 to 1.57 in) long. The forewing has a triangular hyaline (glass-like) patch with black borders, and thin black stripes along the veins, forming six to eight spot/bands. It also has a pale band running obliquely across the pre-discal area. This band is continued onto the black hindwing which bears the long tail and prominent abdominal wing fold. In this species, the pale bands are light green while in its closely related species, Lamproptera curius , they are white. Also in L. curius, the white band has a hyaline outer edge. Sexes are alike, but the female is duller and has a ventral copulation groove before the tip of the abdomen. The males of this species do not have the sex mark (scent organ) found in L. curius. [2] [3]
The butterfly is found in northeastern India, in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. [3] It is also found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, southern China (including Hainan), Cambodia, peninsular and eastern Malaysia, the Indonesian archipelago, Brunei, and the Philippines. In Indonesia, it is found on the islands of Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Nias, Bangka and Java. [1] In 2006, it was reported from Zhangjiajie of Hunan Province. [4]
The green dragontail is not known to be threatened in most of its range but is considered vulnerable and in need of protection in peninsular Malaysia. [1]
In a study of swallowtail assemblages in Rani-Garbhanga Reserve Forest in Assam in 2003 and 2004, dragontails (Lamproptera species) were found to have one of the lowest mean abundances; both L. meges and L. curius being found in gaps (open patches) as well as in closed forest. [5] A 2004 report had earlier suggested that the status of the green dragontail in Garbhanga Reserve Forest was "very rare"; later a total of 108 butterflies of genus Lamproptera were seen during the 2003 and 2004 survey, the species-wise breakdown not being published. [5] [6]
Among the smallest of swallowtails in India, the green dragontail is usually found singly along open sunlit patches, almost always near streams and water courses. It may also be seen in small groups, usually twos or threes. It flies in an altitude range of 100 to 1,520 metres (330 to 4,990 ft). It flies from April to October. [3] Having much smaller wing size to body length ratio, the butterflies have a whirring flight, rapidly beat their wings and dart back and forth in a manner reminiscent of dragonflies, their long tails acting as rudders. Male dragontails suck up a lot of water from which the dissolved minerals are filtered and the water squirted from the anus. While feeding they vibrate their wings rapidly but pause from time to time. Occasionally, they rest on leaves of bushes with wings outspread and stationary. [7]
The eggs are pale green, spherical, smooth, almost transparent and resemble the eggs of other swallowtails. [2] The caterpillar is dark green in colour and is spotted with black. The chrysalis is attached to the upper surface of a leaf by the cremaster. [7]
Illigera burmanica King (family Hernandiaceae). [2] In the Philippines, the butterfly has also been recorded from Zanthoxylum species (Rutaceae). [8]
Papilio helenus, the red Helen, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests of southern India and parts of southeast Asia.
Papilio polytes, the common Mormon, is a common species of swallowtail butterfly widely distributed across Asia.
Graphium doson, the common jay, is a black, tropical papilionid (swallowtail) butterfly with pale blue semi-transparent central wing bands that are formed by large spots. There is a marginal series of smaller spots. The underside of wings is brown with markings similar to upperside but whitish in colour. The sexes look alike. The species was first described by father and son entomologists Cajetan and Rudolf Felder.
Byasa polyeuctes, the common windmill, is the most common member in India of the windmills genus (Byasa), comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.
Papilio nephelus is a species of swallowtail butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. Subspecies include P. n. chaon, the yellow Helen, and P. n. sunatus, the black and white Helen.
Troides helena, the common birdwing, is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. It is often found in the wildlife trade due to its popularity with butterfly collectors. The butterfly has seventeen subspecies.
Meandrusa payeni, the yellow gorgon, is a species of swallowtail found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the hooked swallowtails genus, Meandrusa, of the family Papilionidae. It is also called the outlet sword or the sickle.
Lamproptera curius, the white dragontail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly native to parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia where it is common. It belongs to the dragontails genus, Lamproptera, of the swallowtail family, Papilionidae.
Losaria coon, the common clubtail, is a butterfly belonging to the swallowtail family, Papilionidae. The butterfly belongs to the clubtails, genus Losaria. It includes several subspecies and is found from the Nicobar Islands and Assam in India, east to Hainan in China, and south through Indochina, to Java and other islands of Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Papilio (Chilasa) agestor, the tawny mime, is a swallowtail butterfly, native to Indian subcontinent and widely found across Asia. The butterfly belongs to the mime subgenus, Chilasa, of the genus Papilio or the black-bodied swallowtails.
Graphium macareus, the lesser zebra, is a relatively common and not threatened species of swallowtail butterfly found in Southeast Asia. It is also found in parts of India including Assam and Sikkim.
Graphium eurypylus, the great jay or pale green triangle, is a species of tropical butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae.
Graphium evemon, the blue jay, lesser jay, or pale green triangle is a species of tropical butterfly found in India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Hypolycaena erylus, the common tit, is a small but striking butterfly found in India and South-East Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1823.
Actinodaphne is an Asian genus of flowering plants in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It contains approximately 125 species of dioecious evergreen trees and shrubs.
Pratapa icetoides, the blue royal, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in the Indomalayan realm.
Dichorragia nesimachus, the constable, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Asia. The genus was earlier considered to belong to the subfamily Cyrestinae and sometimes the Apaturinae, but is now considered as a sister of the genus Stibochiona in the subfamily Pseudergolinae. Several geographical forms with variations in colour are noted within the wide distribution range extending from India in the west to Japan in the east. In Vietnam, it is thought to show hill topping behaviour and is typically found in dense forest habitats. They may also be found mud puddling with other species.
Troides amphrysus, the Malay birdwing, is a birdwing butterfly in the genus Troides in the family Papilionidae.
Amblypodia narada is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Thomas Horsfield in 1828. It is found in Southeast Asia.