Papilio nireus

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Green-banded swallowtail
Narrow blue-banded swallowtail (Papilio nireus lyaeus).jpg
Narrow blue-banded swallowtail (Papilio nireus lyaeus) underside.jpg
both P. n. lyaeus
Semliki Wildlife Reserve' Uganda
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. nireus
Binomial name
Papilio nireus
Synonyms
  • Papilio erinusGray, [1853]
  • Papilio nireus f. noraStrand, 1915
  • Papilio nireus f. dimidiatusLe Cerf, 1924
  • Papilio nireoidesBraun, 1932
  • Papilio nireus nireus ab. bedociDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus ab. punctataDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus ab. seeldrayersiDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus ab. pierardiDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus ab. falcataDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus f. houzeauiDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus f. tenuivittataDufrane, 1946
  • Papilio nireus nireus var. xerophilaStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus micronireusStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus ab. lyaeoidesStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus nireus f. cedeaeSala, 1992
  • Papilio lyaeusDoubleday, 1845
  • Papilio lyaeus aelyusSuffert, 1904
  • Papilio mantitheusEhrmann, 1920
  • Papilio nireus-lyaeus f. callistriaLe Cerf, 1927
  • Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. pseudonireoidesStorace, 1952
  • Papilio donaldsoniSharpe, 1896
  • Papilio nireus var. abyssinicaCannaviello, 1900
  • Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. pseudolyaeusStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. anticemaculataStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. minorStorace, 1952
  • Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. semivittataStorace, 1952

Papilio nireus, the green-banded swallowtail, narrow-banded blue swallowtail, or African blue-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Contents

Description

The wingspan is 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in) in males and 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in) in females. Forewing above at most with two blue submarginal spots in cellules 7 and 8; rarely in the female with several yellow ones; the blue (male) or greenish (female) median band is 2–7 mm broad at the hindmargin of the forewing and 4–12 mm in the middle of the hindwing, and is only a little widened posteriorly; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing does not completely cover the base of the cellule and the narrow spot in cellule lc does not reach the cell; forewing beneath almost always entirely without submarginal spots. [Nominate] Median band of the forewing above well developed, the spots of cellules 2—4 obliquely cut off distally; the discal spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is very long and produced farther towards the anal angle than the spot in cellule 1 c. Sierra Leone to Angola and Uganda. — lyaeus Dbl. The median band narrower, but complete; the spot in cellule 2 of the hindwing is shorter and does not reach so far towards the anal angle as the one in 1 c. Larva above green, beneath whitish, with a whitish oblique longitudinal streak at each side on segments 7 and 8 and a girdle of ring-shaped spots on the third segment. Cape Colony to Angola and British East Africa. male ab. aelyus Suff. only differs from lyaeus in the discal spot in cellule 1 a of the forewing being entirely wanting and the one in cellule 1 b divided into two; German East Africa.— pseudonireus Fldr. (= donaldsoni Em. Sharpe). The median band is altogether absent on the forewing or is only represented by a few very small spots; on the hindwing it is formed as in lyaeus. Somali¬ land and Abyssinia. [2]

Biology

It flies year-round, with peaks from November to February. [3]

The larvae feed on Calodendrum capense , Vepris species, and Citrus species. [1]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically: [1]

Taxonomy

Papilio nireus belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails, lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are:

References

  1. 1 2 3 Papilio nireus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde Band 13: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter, 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. p. 352. ISBN   978-1-86872-724-7.
  4. Doubleday, E. 1845. Descriptions of new or imperfectly described diurnal lepidoptera.Annals and Magazine of Natural History (1) 16: 176-182. Full text
  5. Felder, C. and Felder, R. [1865-1867] Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara Full text