Papilio nireus
Papilio nireus, the green-banded swallowtail, narrow-banded blue swallowtail, or African blue-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Green-banded swallowtail | |
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both P. n. lyaeus Semliki Wildlife Reserve' Uganda | |
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Species: | P. nireus |
Binomial name | |
Papilio nireus | |
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The wingspan is 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in) in males and 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in) in females. It flies year-round, with peaks from November to February.[2]
The larvae feed on Calodendrum capense, Teclea species, Vepris species, and Citrus species.[1]
Subspecies
Listed alphabetically:[1]
- P. n. lyaeus Doubleday, 1845 – narrowly green-banded swallowtail (Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland)
- P. n. nireus Linnaeus, 1758 – (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, western Tanzania, Zambia)
- P. n. pseudonireus C. & R. Felder, 1865 – (northern Kenya, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea)
- P. n. nireus dorsal side
Bobiri Forest, Ghana - P. n. nireus ventral side
Bobiri Forest, Ghana - P. n. lyaeus in flight, Semliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda
- P. n. pseudonireus, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia
- P. n. pseudonireus, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia
Taxonomy
Papilio nireus belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails, lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are:
- Papilio aristophontes Oberthür, 1897
- Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758
- Papilio charopus Westwood, 1843
- Papilio chitondensis de Sousa & Fernandes, 1966
- Papilio chrapkowskii Suffert, 1904
- Papilio chrapkowskoides Storace, 1952
- Papilio desmondi van Someren, 1939
- Papilio hornimani Distant, 1879
- Papilio interjectana Vane-Wright, 1995
- Papilio manlius Fabricius, 1798
- Papilio microps Storace, 1951
- Papilio sosia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
- Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900
- Papilio ufipa Carcasson, 1961
- Papilio wilsoni Rothschild, 1926
gollark: communis
gollark: communi
gollark: commun
gollark: communi
gollark: communist
References
- Papilio nireus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
- Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. p. 352. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
- 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)
- Hancock, David Lawrence. (1984) The Princeps nireus group of swallowtails (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae): systematics, phylogeny and biogeography. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9(12):181-215.
External links
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- Linnean collections Photographs of the holotype
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