Papilio blumei | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Papilionidae |
Genus: | Papilio |
Species: | P. blumei |
Binomial name | |
Papilio blumei Boisduval, 1836 | |
Synonyms | |
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Papilio blumei, the peacock or green swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. [1] It is sometimes confused with the more widespread P. palinurus , but that species is smaller and has mostly black tails (in P. blumei, the upper surface of the tails is mostly bluish green).
The wingspan of P. blumei is 120–140 mm (4.7–5.5 in).
The colours on the wings of some of these butterflies are metallic and are eye catching especially when viewed from a particular angle.
The remarkable feature of this butterfly's wing is that it contains rows of very small concave surfaces that reflect light in many ways. For instance, the centre of the concave surface reflects a yellow-green light and the edges reflect a blue light.
At the centre of the concavity, light is reflected directly but when light hits the edges, it bounces off into forming many layers, which amplifies and rotates the waves of light.
The final blend is known as structural colour due to the complexity by which it is produced.
Researchers have taken about ten years to recreate a simplified replica of the surface of the butterfly's wing. They hope that such technology will result in bank notes and credit cards that are difficult to forge [2] [3] and also that it will lead to solar cells being more efficient at gathering energy from the sun.
Yet it is challenging to duplicate the surface of a butterfly's wing. Professor Ullrich Steiner of Cambridge University's Nanoscience Centre states that, "Despite the detailed scientific understanding of optics, the astonishingly varied colour palette found in nature often surpasses the optical effects that can be generated by technological means".[ citation needed ]
There are two recognised subspecies:
It is protected in Bantimurung – Bulusaraung National Park.
Papilio palinurus, the emerald swallowtail, emerald peacock, or green-banded peacock, is a butterfly of the genus Papilio of the family Papilionidae. It is native to Southeast Asia, but is regularly kept in butterfly houses around the world.
Papilio paris, the Paris peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent and southeast 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 arcturus, the blue peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent.
Papilio krishna, the Krishna peacock, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests in China, north east India, Myanmar and Vietnam.
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 buddha, the Malabar banded peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Western Ghats of India.
Teinopalpus imperialis, the Kaiser-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 Kaiser-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.
Papilio ulysses, the Ulysses butterfly, is a large swallowtail butterfly of Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Its size varies depending on subspecies, but the wingspan is about 10.5 cm (4.1 in) in Queensland.
Papilio chikae, the Luzon peacock swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It has two subspecies, with P. c. chikae from Luzon and P. c. hermeli(Nuyda, 1992) from Mindoro. The latter was originally described as a separate species, but it resembles the nominate subspecies and there are no significant differences in their genitalia, leading recent authorities to treat them as subspecies of a single species.
Papilio neumoegeni is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to the islands of Sumba in Indonesia.
Papilio maackii, the alpine black swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Central Asia, Japan, China and South Korea.
Papilio dialis, the southern Chinese peacock, is a swallowtail butterfly, native to China, Hainan, Taiwan and Burma.
Papilio pericles is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found from the Philippines and Malaysia to Indonesia.
Papilio peranthus is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Indonesia.
Papilio anchisiades, the ruby-spotted swallowtail or red-spotted swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found from southern Texas south to Argentina. Rare strays can be found up to Kansas, southeastern Arizona, and western Texas.
Papilio lorquinianus, the sea green swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Moluccas and in western Irian Jaya.
Protographium 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.
Parides phaleucas is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It was described by William Chapman Hewitson in 1869. It is found in Ecuador and Peru.
Achillides, the peacock swallowtails, are a subgenus within the genus Papilio containing 25 species.