Papilio rex

Papilio rex
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. rex
Binomial name
Papilio rex Oberthür, 1886 [1] [2]
Synonyms
Papilio mimeticusRothschild, 1897 Papilio schultzeiAurivillius, 1904 Papilio rex var. arnoldi Richelmann, 1909 Papilio abyssinicus Poulton, 1926 Papilio rex f. commixta Aurivillius, 1908 Papilio rexi f. commixta Aurivillius, 1908 Papilio rex var. alinderi f. lindblomi Bryk, 1928 Papilio rex f. intermediata Bryk, 1930 Papilio rex alinderi f. holmi Bryk, 1953 Papilio rex barnsi Le Cerf, 1924 Papilio rex var. regulus Le Cerf, 1919 Papilio rex ab. eisneri Bryk, 1928 Papilio rex f. endymionStoneham, 1951

Papilio rex, the regal swallowtail or king papilio, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa. ^[3] It is a semi-montane and montane forest (1, 300 m. to 2 600 m.) species. The larvae feed on Teclea tricocarpa , Teclea stuhlmanni , Calodendrum , Citrus , Clausena , Fagara and Toddalia species. In the early morning and late afternoon adults of both sexes descend from the forest canopy to feed from the flowers of Lantana , Impatiens and Bougainvillea . It hilltops on granite outcrops and mud puddles. ^[4]

The Kenyan forms mimic Tirumala formosa , the forest monarch butterfly.

Description

The male is significantly larger than the female, but the patterns of the two sexes are similar. The male reaches a wingspan of 17 cm[1]. On the obverse, the wings are black or dark brown. The forewings are quite elongated, they are orange at the base and have white macules. The hindwings are rounded, white or cream in the basal area and crossed by black veins while the rest of the wing is studded with white macules. The underside is similar but the wings are slightly lighter and the orange part of the forewings is more extensive. The thorax and head are black and dotted with white macules, the abdomen is black above and white below and on the sides.

This species mimics the appearance of Tirumala formosa and more precisely of Tirumala formosa morgeni, a species of poisonous butterfly[

Taxonomy

Papilio rex is a member of the dardanus species group. The members of the clade are:

• Papilio dardanus Brown, 1776
• Papilio constantinus Ward, 1871
• Papilio delalandei Godart, [1824]
• Papilio phorcas Cramer, [1775]
• Papilio rexOberthür, 1886

Subspecies

• Papilio rex rex (Kenya (east of the Rift Valley), north-eastern Tanzania, central Tanzania)
• Papilio rex mimeticusRothschild, 1897 ^[5] (Congo Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, western Kenya)
• Papilio rex franciscaeCarpenter, 1928 (southern Sudan, south-western Ethiopia) ^[6]
• Papilio rex alinderiBryk, 1928 ^[7] (Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))
• Papilio rex schultzeiAurivillius, 1904 ^[8] (eastern Nigeria, highlands of Cameroon)
• Papilio rex abyssinicanaVane-Wright, 1995 ^[9] (highlands of south-eastern Ethiopia)
• Papilio rex regulanaVane-Wright, 1995 (Kenya (highlands east of the Rift Valley))

Biogeographic realm

Afrotropical realm

References

1. Oberthür, C. 1886. [No title]. Bulletin de la Société Entomologique de France (6) 6: 114-115.
2. Papilio, Site of Markku Savela
3. "Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Papilionini". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
4. Larsen, 1991 The butterflies of Kenya and their natural history 352, 443 (490 pp.). Oxford.
5. Rothschild, W., 1897 On a new species of Papilio from Uganda Entomologist 30 165 Full text
6. Carpenter, 1928. Two collections of butterflies from the S.E. corner of the Sudan. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 76: 25-54.
7. Bryk, F. 1928. Ueber den Mimetismus der afrikanischen Papilio-Arten. Societas Entomologia 43: 13-16.
8. Aurivillius, Per Olof Christopher, 1904 Insekten-Börse 21 (48): 363 Full text
9. Ackery, P.R., Smith, C.R., Vane-Wright, R.I. 1995. Carcasson's African Butterflies: An annotated Catalogue of the Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea of the Afrotropical Region. British Museum (Natural History), London: i-xi, 1-803. ISBN 978-0-643-05561-2

• Carcasson, R.H. 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society pdf Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society)
• Collins, N. Mark; Morris, Michael G. (1985). Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book. Gland & Cambridge: IUCN. ISBN   978-2-88032-603-6 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.

External links

• Media related to Papilio rex at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Papilio rex at Wikispecies
• Butterfly Corner Images from Naturhistorisches Museum Wien