Papilio paradoxa

Last updated

Great blue mime
PapilioParadoxusBingham.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. paradoxa
Binomial name
Papilio paradoxa
Zincken, 1831
Synonyms
  • Chilasa paradoxus

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 (black-bodied swallowtails). It is an excellent mimic of different species of Euploea (sub-family Danainae).

Contents

Description

From Charles Thomas Bingham (1905) The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma , Butterflies Vol. 1:

Papilio paradoxus Race telearchus

Papilio paradoxa telearchus 511.png

The second and rarer form of the female closely resembles the male, but is larger and paler, with the pale blue-glossed spots on the upperside of the forewing elongate and more prominent and the ground colour lighter than in the male.

Papilio caunus

Race danisepa, Butler- Male. Upperside rich velvety brown shot with blue. Forewing: apical third of cell, four short streaks beyond in interspaces 4,5,6 and 9 and a subterminal series of spots curved inwards opposite the apex, bluish white. Hindwing: the cell, a series of streaks from the bases of interspaces 1 to 7 and an incomplete subterminal series of minute spots, white; the streaks in interspaces 4 and 5 short, those in the interspaces above and below gradually longer. Underside brown without the blue gloss; markings as on the upperside, but the subterminal markings on the hindwing complete. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen black; beneath, the thorax and abdomen with a few white spots. Female. Resembles the male, but the blue gloss on both forewing and hindwing is more restricted, the ground colour paler brown, somewhat of a rich golden bronze, and the white markings are fuller and broader.

I first came across this magnificent butterfly on the Tannjah Pass, 1000 feet, over the Dawnat mountains in Tenasserim, and until I had caught and examined it, mistook it for an extraordinarily large specimen of Euploea rhadamanthus. It is apparently sometimes, notwithstanding its disguise, attacked and preyed upon by the Pigmy Falcon ( Microhierax caerulescens ), as in the nest-hole of a pair of these birds I once found the fragment of a forewing of a butterfly which was identified by the late Mr. de Niceville as belonging to this form of P. caunus.

Distribution

The butterfly is found in northern India (including Assam and Arunachal Pradesh), Bangladesh, and Myanmar. It is also found in southern China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Kampuchea, peninsular and eastern Malaysia, Philippines (Palawan), Brunei and Indonesia (Sumatra, Banka, Nias, and Kalimantan).

Status

Never common but not known to be threatened. Considered rare in India by William Harry Evans and Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth. Only one subspecies of the butterfly occurs in Indian territory, P. (C.) p. telearchus (Hewitson), which is protected by law in India.

Habitat

This is a forest species and is generally found in low elevations.

Mimicry

The typical form of the great blue mime mimics the striped blue crow ( Euploea mulciber ) in both sexes. There also occurs in India a form danisepa which mimics the magpie crow ( Euploea radamanthus ). Though the great mimes are easily distinguished when caught, in flight they very closely resemble the mimicked butterflies.

Habits

The flight of the mime mimics that of the species it resembles. It is fond of settling on damp patches.

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Abisara echerius</i> Species of butterfly

Abisara echerius, the plum Judy, is a small but striking butterfly found in Asia belonging to the Punches and Judies family (Riodinidae). It is difficult to distinguish it from Abisara bifasciata.

<i>Pareronia valeria</i> Species of butterfly

Pareronia valeria, the common wanderer or Malayan wanderer, is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, and is found in India and Southeast Asia. The butterfly found in India is sometimes considered as a separate species, Pareronia hippia.

<i>Papilio paris</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio paris, the Paris peacock swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia.

<i>Papilio castor</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio castor, the common raven, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in Cambodia and South Asia.

<i>Papilio nephelus</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Papilio agestor</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Papilio clytia</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio clytia, the common mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in south and southeast Asia. The butterfly belongs to the subgenus Chilasa, the black-bodied swallowtails. It serves as an excellent example of a Batesian mimic among the Indian butterflies.

<i>Papilio epycides</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio (Chilasa) epycides, the lesser mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found in India and parts of South-East Asia. The butterfly belongs to the mime (Chilasa) subgenus or the black-bodied swallowtails. It is a mimic of a common Indian Danainae, the glassy tiger butterfly.

<i>Papilio slateri</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio (Chilasa) slateri, the blue striped mime, is a swallowtail butterfly found across south and south-east Asia. The butterfly belongs to the mime subgenus, Chilasa, of the genus Papilio, the black-bodied swallowtails. The nominate subspecies is found in India and is also called the brown mime. It is a good example of mimicry among Indian butterflies.

<i>Athyma selenophora</i> Species of insect (butterfly)

Athyma selenophora, the staff sergeant, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in tropical and subtropical Asia.

<i>Delias pasithoe</i> Species of butterfly

Delias pasithoe, the redbase Jezebel is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. The species is found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. There has been some dispute for which species the specific name aglaja, used twice by Linnaeus in 1758, applies – the redbase Jezebel, or the dark green fritillary, a brush-footed butterfly. Here, Delias pasithoe is used for the redbase Jezebel, based on the replacement name proposed by Linnaeus himself.

<i>Tarucus theophrastus</i> Species of butterfly

Tarucus theophrastus, the common tiger blue, pointed Pierrot or African Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in the Old World tropics. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

<i>Neptis columella</i> Species of butterfly

Neptis columella, the short banded sailer, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia.

<i>Nacaduba hermus</i> Species of butterfly

Nacaduba hermus, the pale four-line blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Baron Cajetan von Felder in 1860.

<i>Nacaduba berenice</i> Species of butterfly

Nacaduba berenice, the rounded six-line blue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1869.

<i>Athyma nefte</i> Species of butterfly

Athyma nefte, the colour sergeant, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in tropical South and Southeast Asia.

<i>Athyma zeroca</i> Species of butterfly

Athyma zeroca, the small staff sergeant, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in tropical and subtropical Asia.

<i>Argynnis hyperbius</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Catochrysops strabo</i> Species of butterfly

Catochrysops strabo, the forget-me-not, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, from Sikkim to Indochina and in Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Philippines.

<i>Pareronia hippia</i> Species of butterfly

Pareronia hippia, the common wanderer or Indian wanderer, is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. It is found in India. Some authors consider this as a subspecies of Pareronia valeria.

References