Papilio sosia

Papilio sosia, the medium green-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Afrotropical realm. The species was first described by Walter Rothschild in 1903.

Medium green-banded swallowtail
Specimen on display in Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Papilionidae
Tribe:
Papilionini
Genus:
Papilio
Species:
P. sosia
Binomial name
Papilio sosia
Synonyms
  • Papilio sosia f. imitatrix Storace, 1951
  • Papilio sosia ab. pristina Storace, 1951
  • Papilio sosia ab. atlantica Birket-Smith, 1960

The larva feeds on Zanthoxylum and Citrus.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

  • P. s. sosia (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, western Cameroon)
  • P. s. pulchra Berger, 1950 (Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Congo Republic)
  • P. s. debilis Storace, 1951 (Uganda, northwestern Tanzania)

Description

The median band is straight and regular and never less than 1 cm in cell lb of the forewing, nearly always much wider.

Taxonomy

Papilio sosia belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails, they lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani. The clade members are:

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See also

References
  1. Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Papilionini
  2. Savela, Markku. "Papilio sosia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved January 6, 2019.

Sources
  • 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.
  • Larsen, T.B. (2005). Butterflies of West Africa Apollo Books ISBN 87-88757-43-9
  • Storace, L. (1951-1952). Recherches sur le groupe africain de Papilio nireus L. Lambillionea 51:44-52; 54-57; 73-76.


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