| Blue peacock | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Male upperside / underside (label wrong) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: | P. arcturus |
| Binomial name | |
| Papilio arcturus Westwood, 1842 | |
| Synonyms | |
Princeps arcturus | |
Papilio arcturus, the blue peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent.
Male has the upper wings brownish black, somewhat paler on the forewing than on the hindwing. Forewing irrorated (sprinkled) with brilliant golden-green scales that on the posterior half of the wing form a broad, not well-defined subterminal band; the veins and elongate streaks between them on the outer half of the wing velvety black. Hindwing has the posterior three-fourths irrorated with brilliant golden-green scales as on the forewing but towards the base anteriorly these are blue; a conspicuous brilliant blue patch somewhat irregular in shape occupies the apex of the cell and the bases of interspaces 5 and 6, prolonged as a broad streak in the latter interspace up to the terminal margin; below this a more or less triangular patch on the disc and above it the whole of the costal margin broadly are devoid of the irroration of green scales; a subterminal generally incomplete series of large claret-red lunules terminates at the tornal angle in a large conspicuous black-centred red ocellus; the latter is encircled above and anteriorly by a narrow band formed by a conflux of the green irrorated scales; the lunules are bordered outwardly by spots of the ground colour that are devoid of the green scales; finally both the lunules and the tornal ocellus are tinged more or less with bluish purple on their inner margins, underside dull black, with a somewhat sparse irroration of yellowish-white scales confined on the forewing to the base and apex, and on the hindwing to the posterior two-thirds, not extended to the termen except along the tail. Forewing: a broad ill-defined subterminal pale transverse area, crossed by the black veins and internervular streaks, and elongated pale cellular streaks. Hindwing: a large somewhat quadrate terminal black-centred claret-red patch in interspaces 1 and 2, and a subterminal series of broad claret-red lunules that extends from interspaces 3 to 7, followed by ill-defined anteciliary red spots in each interspace. Cilia of both forewings and hindwings white, alternated with black. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brownish black; the head, thorax and abdomen at base on the upperside sprinkled with golden-green scales.
The female is similar to the male but the markings are more prominent. Upperside of forewing has the subterminal golden-green band broader and on the hindwing the subterminal series of claret-red lunules more complete than in the male. [1]
Papilio paris, the Paris peacock(Myanmar name: ဒေါင်းစိမ်းလိပ်ပြာ), is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia.
Papilio alcmenor, the redbreast, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in South Asia.
Papilio crino, the common banded peacock, is a species of swallowtail (Papilionidae) butterfly found in parts of the Indian subcontinent, including India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
Papilio bootes, the tailed redbreast, is a swallowtail butterfly found in Asia. Within their wide distribution about four population variants have been named as subspecies. They have been placed within the Menelaides clade by a 2015 phylogenetics study.
Papilio castor, the common raven, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in Cambodia and South Asia.
Papilio elephenor, the yellow-crested spangle, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in Northeast India. Following decades without confirmed sightings, it was rediscovered in 2009 in Assam.
Papilio krishna, the Krishna peacock, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests in China, Nepal, north east India, Myanmar and Vietnam.
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.
Papilio polyctor, the common peacock, is a swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent. It is found in the Himalayas and parts of India from the foothills to 7,000 feet (2,100 m) between March and October. It has distinct dry- and wet-season forms. The butterfly frequents Buddleia flowers. Its food plant is Zanthoxylum alatum of the family Rutaceae. Papilio polyctor has three subspecies, consisting of Papilio polyctor significans, Papilio polyctor stockleyi, and Papilio polyctor xiei.
Papilio protenor, the spangle, is a butterfly found in India belonging to the swallowtail family.
Papilio buddha, the Malabar banded peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Western Ghats of India. The Government of Kerala declared it as the official Kerala state butterfly.
Teinopalpus imperialis, the Kaisar-i-Hind, is a rare species of swallowtail butterfly found from Nepal and north India east to north Vietnam. The common name literally means "emperor of India". The Kaisar-i-Hind is much sought after by butterfly collectors for its beauty and rarity. The green iridescence of the wings has been found to be due to three-dimensional photonic structure of the scales and is the subject of much research.
Meandrusa sciron, the brown gorgon, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the hooked swallowtails genus, Meandrusa, of the family Papilionidae. The brown gorgon is found in India from Sikkim to Assam and north Burma and is not considered to be threatened. Though not uncommon, it is protected under Indian law under the name gyas.
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.
Papilio (Chilasa) paradoxa, the great blue mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in India and parts of South-East Asia. The butterfly belongs to the mime subgenus, Chilasa, of the genus Papilio. It is an excellent mimic of different species of Euploea.
Papilio mayo, the Andaman Mormon, is a species of swallowtail butterfly that is endemic to the Andamans in the Bay of Bengal. It is a species that is protected by Indian Law. The scientific name honours Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, who was assassinated at Port Blair the year before the butterfly was discovered.
Cepora nadina, the lesser gull, is a small to medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. The species was first described by Hippolyte Lucas in 1852. It is native to Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Hainan, and southeast Asia.
Orthomiella pontis, the straightwing blue, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Symbrenthia lilaea, the peninsular jester, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with Symbrenthia hippoclus. There are numerous regional forms in a poorly resolved taxonomy.
The Indian fritillary is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia.