Papilio bianor

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Papilio bianor
Open wing position of Papilio bianor Cramer, 1777 - Common Peacock WLB DSC 4064.jpg
Dorsal view
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. bianor
Binomial name
Papilio bianor
Cramer, 1777
Synonyms

Papilio polyctor

Papilio bianor, also known as the common peacock, Chinese peacock black swallowtail emerald [1] or Chinese peacock or bianor's emperor machaon - is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae, the swallowtails. [2] It is native to Continental Asia. [3] It is the state butterfly of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. [4] [5]

Contents

Description

This species is variable in size. Individuals emerged in the spring reach 4 to 8 centimeters wide, while those emerged in the summer can reach 12 centimeters. [1] The forewings are black with dark veining and green scales. The undersides are brown, turning white distally with dark veining. The hindwings are tailed and have ridged edges containing reddish eyespots. The body is black with green scales. [3]

The male has black hair on the forewings, which the female lacks. [1]

e:Papilio bianor ganesa male PapilioBianorGanesaMUpUnAC1.jpg
e:Papilio bianor ganesa male

Description in Seitz

. P. bianor. Geographically as well as seasonally very variable. male: the pilose stripes broad, the posterior three usually united, when they are separated the stripe of the lower median remains broader than the interspace, which separates it from the stripe of the submedian fold; upper surface of the forewing dusted with green or greenblue, this scaling commonly condensed into a band before the narrowly dark distal margin; upper surface of the hindwing anteriorly blue or blue-green and posteriorly dusted with green, commonly with a more thickly scaled large green or blue patch (or a similar band), a red anal spot, besides 0—4 red submarginal spots and at least anteriorly some distinct green submarginal spots. The black basal area of the forewing beneath always extends beyond the base of the upper median, sometimes the whole wing is black; under surface of the hindwing with a complete row of red submarginal spots. The female with less dense metallic scaling; the red spots on the upperside of the hindwing usually more numerous and larger than in the male. The butterfly occurs from North Japan to Tonkin and West China and appears to be fairly common in all its localities, sometimes occurring in profusion. Like the allied species the males congregate on moist sand and visit flowers. The larva is green with 2—8 light oblique bands, on Aurantiaceae.Karl Jordan in Seitz. [6]

Subspecies

There are many subspecies. [3]

Biology

This species can be found in forests and other wooded areas. It can occur in suburban and urban areas if appropriate host plants are available. [1]

Food plants include species of citrus, prickly ash, cork trees, trifoliate orange, rue, and Japanese skimmia. [3]

Using the species as a model to investigate the iridescent colour evolution, phylogeography, and the evolution of swallowtail butterflies a chromosome scale genome has been sequenced, the final assembly being 421.52 Mb in size, with 15,375 protein-coding genes and 30 chromosomes (29 autosomes and 1 Z sex chromosome). [7] Phylogenetic analysis of this data indicating that P. bianor separated from a common ancestor of swallowtails ~23.69–36.04 million years ago.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the species group paris

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Perveen F, Khan A, Sikander (2014). "Characteristics of butterfly (Lepidoptera) fauna from Kabal, Swat. Pakistan" (PDF). Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies. 2 (1): 56–69.
  2. Dong Y, Zhu LX, Wu YF, Wu XB (December 2013). "The complete mitochondrial genome of the Chinese peacock, Papilio bianor (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)". Mitochondrial DNA. 24 (6): 636–8. doi:10.3109/19401736.2013.772161. PMID   23442187. S2CID   1611016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Papilio bianor". butterflycorner.net.
  4. "Common Peacock Male Papilio Bianor Polyctor". Devalsari Environment Protection & Technology Development Society. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. Sharma N (18 November 2016). "Uttarakhand to declare 'Common Peacock' as state butterfly". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 2 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  6. Seitz, A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln pdf PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  7. Lu S, Yang J, Dai X, Xie F, He J, Dong Z, et al. (November 2019). "Chromosomal-level reference genome of Chinese peacock butterfly (Papilio bianor) based on third-generation DNA sequencing and Hi-C analysis". GigaScience. 8 (11). doi:10.1093/gigascience/giz128. PMC   6827417 . PMID   31682256.

Further reading