Red-bodied swallowtail | |
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Pachliopta hector | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Papilionidae |
Subfamily: | Papilioninae |
Tribe: | Troidini |
Species | |
About 46; see text | |
Groups included | |
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Synonyms | |
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Red-bodied swallowtails, or ruby swallowtail (due to the color), are butterflies in the swallowtail family, that belong to the genera Atrophaneura, Byasa, Losaria, or Pachliopta. They are generally found in Asia (Indomalayan realm).
Collectors have found the red-bodied swallowtails difficult to kill. Pinching the thorax, a method which kills most butterflies, is withstood and only stuns the butterfly temporarily.[ citation needed ]
The larvae resemble those of other Troidini. Fleshy spine-like tubercles, often with red tips, line the caterpillars' backs, and their bodies are dark red to brown and velvety black or shades of grey with a pattern of black lines. They feed on species of Aristolochia and Thottea . Chrysalids are camouflaged to look like a dead leaf or twig. They are attached by a girdle and an anal pad. Adults are nectar feeding.
Many species of red-bodied swallowtails show aposematism, [1] and serve as models for Batesian mimicry. The biology of Pachliopta hector and Pachliopta aristolochiae are well studied.
Species limits may be either narrow (many species - forma and subspecies raised to full or "good" species) or broad (fewer species - rank reduction) see Jürgen Haffer for a discussion.
Listed alphabetically within genera: [2]
genus: Atrophaneura Reakirt, [1865] [2] (earlier considered as the nominotypical subgenus of Atrophaneura but now it is a genus without subgenera) [3]
genus: ByasaMoore, 1882 (earlier considered as subgenus Byasa but now raised to genus level) [3]
genus: LosariaMoore, [1902] (earlier considered as subgenus Losaria but now raised to genus level) [3]
genus: Pachliopta Reakirt, [1865] (earlier considered as subgenus Pachliopta but now raised to genus level) [3]
Papilio is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word papilio is Latin for butterfly.
Troidini is a tribe of swallowtail butterflies that consists of some 135 species in 12 genera. Members of this tribe are superlatively large among butterflies and are often strikingly coloured.
Pachliopta aristolochiae, the common rose, is a species of swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta, the roses, or red-bodied swallowtails. It is a common butterfly which is extensively distributed across south and southeast Asia.
Byasa polyeuctes, the common windmill, is the most common member in India of the windmills genus (Byasa), comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.
Byasa nevilli, the Nevill's windmill, is a butterfly found in India that belongs to the windmills genus (Byasa), comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.
Atrophaneura pandiyana, the Malabar rose or pandiyana's maculaturoviy machaon with white stripes, is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta, the roses or red-bodied swallowtails.
Losaria coon, the common clubtail, is a butterfly belonging to the swallowtail family, Papilionidae. The butterfly belongs to the clubtails, genus Losaria. It includes several subspecies and is found from the Nicobar Islands and Assam in India, east to Hainan in China, and south through Indochina, to Java and other islands of Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Losaria rhodifer, the Andaman clubtail, is a rare species of the swallowtail family, Papilionidae, native to India. The butterfly belongs to the genus Losaria, or the clubtails, as they are commonly known.
Atrophaneura priapus, the Priapus batwing or white-head batwing, is a swallowtail butterfly found in Burma, Malaysia, Sumatra, and Java. The subspecies A. p. hageni was named to honour Hermann August Hagen. It may be a full species.
Byasa alcinous, the Chinese windmill, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.
Byasa daemonius is a butterfly described by Sergei Alphéraky in 1895. It is found in Tibet and western China, that belongs to the windmills genus Byasa, comprising tailed black swallowtail butterflies with white spots and red submarginal crescents.
Pachliopta adamas is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus Pachliopta, the roses, or red-bodied swallowtails. It is found in Bawan, Java, and Enggano.