Red-bodied swallowtail

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Red-bodied swallowtail
TS001 Pachliopta hector.jpg
Pachliopta hector
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
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 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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Papilio</i> Genus of butterflies

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troidini</span> Tribe of butterflies

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.

<i>Pachliopta aristolochiae</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Byasa polyeuctes</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Byasa nevilli</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Pachliopta pandiyana</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Losaria coon</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Losaria rhodifer</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Atrophaneura priapus</i> Species of butterfly

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.

<i>Byasa alcinous</i> Species of butterfly

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.

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. 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