''Battus lycidas'' is a species of
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...
in the family
Papilionidae
Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...
native to the
Neotropical realm
The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Definition
In bioge ...
. It is commonly known as Cramer's swallowtail, the Lycidas swallowtail, and the yellow-trailed swallowtail.
Description
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
of ''Battus lycidas'' can reach . Wings are basically black, with yellow markings and a greenish structure-colour. The hind wings are tailless. This species shows a sexual dimorphism, as in males hind wings have anal androconial creamy yellow patches and the abdomen is yellow cream, while in the females hind wings have faint pale yellow spots forming a discontinuous strip in the middle area. Little is known about this species, but it is not considered threatened.
[ Adults fly in May and June visiting flowers of '' Warscewiczia coccinea'' ( Rubiaceae) and blooms of '' Vochysia guatemalensis'' (]Vochysiaceae
Vochysiaceae is a plant family belonging to the order of Myrtales.
Description
Trees or shrubs with opposite leaves; flowers are zygomorph 1-(3)-5 merous; ovary inferior or superior; one fertile stamen; fruits samara or capsules.
Biogeograp ...
). The larvae of ''Battus lycidas'' feed on ''Aristolochia huberiana
''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clima ...
''.
Distribution
This species can be found from Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
to northern Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
and southern Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
, Brazil.[ It is rare in ]Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
.[
]
Habitat
These butterflies prefer the canopy, the margins of streams and clearings, at an elevation of above sea level.
References
Further reading
*
*Edwin Möhn, 1999, Butterflies of the World 5: 7, plate 10, figures 7-8, plate 19, figures 5-6.Edwin Möhn, 2002 ''Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the world'' Part V (5), Papilionidae II:Battus. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern : Goecke & Evers ; Canterbury : Hillside Books., Page 8, plate 8, figures 5-8, plate 18, figures 7-8
*Paul Smart, 1976 ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World in Color''.London, Salamander:''Encyclopedie des papillons''. Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia (French language edition) page 159 fig. 15 (Guatemala)
External links
*
*
Butterfly Corner
lycidas
"Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who drown ...
Butterflies of North America
Papilionidae of South America
Butterflies described in 1777
{{Papilionidae-stub