Red-bodied swallowtail

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Red-bodied swallowtail
TS001 Pachliopta hector.jpg
Pachliopta hector
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Subfamily: Papilioninae
Tribe: Troidini
Species

About 46; see text

Groups included
Synonyms
  • PolydorusSwainson, [1833]
  • PangeranaMoore, 1886
  • PanosmiaWood-Mason & de Nicéville, 1886
  • TrosKirby, 1896
  • KarangaMoore, [1902]
  • BaligninaMoore, [1902]

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).

Contents

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 ]

Life history

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.

Taxonomy

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 Archived 2010-10-08 at the Wayback Machine for a discussion.

Genera and species

Plate from Adalbert Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genus Atrophaneura Seitz9FaunaIndoAustralicaPlate17.jpg
Plate from Adalbert Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genus Atrophaneura
Plate from Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genera Losaria and Pachliopta. Seitz9FaunaIndoAustralicaPlate16.jpg
Plate from Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genera Losaria and Pachliopta.
Plate from Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genus Pachliopta Seitz9FaunaIndoAustralicaPlate15.jpg
Plate from Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World, depicting species now in the genus Pachliopta

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]

References

  1. ↑ Kitching, Roger Laurence (1999). Biology of Australian Butterflies. Csiro Publishing. p. 131. ISBN   978-0-643-05027-3 . Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  2. 1 2 Savela, Markku (16 Feb 2008). "Atrophaneura". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. nic.funet.fi. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Häuser, Christoph L.; de Jong, Rienk; Lamas, Gerardo; Robbins, Robert K.; Smith, Campbell; Vane-Wright, Richard I. (28 July 2005). "Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft)". Entomological Data Information System. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 21 June 2013..
  4. ↑ Gimenez Dixon, M. (1996). "Atrophaneura schadenbergi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 1996: e.T2379A9436065. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T2379A9436065.en . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  5. ↑ Hancook, D.L. (1982). A note on Atrophaneura palu (Martin) 1912. Papilo International. 1(3): 71-73
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