''Battus polydamas antiquus'' is an extinct

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of the

Polydamas swallowtail ''Battus polydamas'', also known as the gold rim swallowtail, the Polydamas swallowtail or the tailless swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of ' ...

within the

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 ...

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 ...

. It is only known by a drawing from 1770 by British entomologist

Dru Drury Dru Drury (4 February 1724 – 15 December 1803) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He had specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry Sme ...

. It was endemic to

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

. There are 21 ''Battus polydamas'' subspecies. ''B. p. antiquus'' is the only subspecies currently listed as extinct.

received his butterflies from a variety sources during a period of history when cartography was not precise. There exists, to those who have examined his three-volume work ''Illustrations of Natural History'', a plethora of errors in his taxonomy. Such errors may indicate that ''B. p. antiquus'' never existed at all. It may be the only butterfly said to have gone extinct on account of having never existed. It is a

hypothetical extinct species Several species have been assumed to exist, but due to a lack of evidence they can only be regarded as potential species. They have caused confusion, as they may have been a separate species, a subspecies, an introduced species or a misidentific ...

Description

Drury's illustration depicts a male. The ground color of the forewings and hindwings is black. The upperside of the forewings consists of a row of eight green spots. The upper four spots are small. The sixth one is the biggest. The row of spots on the hindwing is narrower.

References

* Walter Rothschild & Karl Jordan (1906): A Revision of the American Papilios. In: ''

Novitates Zoologicae ''Novitates Zoologicae: A Journal of Zoology in Connection With the Tring Museum'' was a British scientific journal devoted to systematic zoology. It was edited by Lionel Walter Rothschild and published between 1894 and 1948 by the Tring Museum ...

'' Volume 13: p 523 * F. Martin Brown and Bernard Heineman, ''Jamaica and its Butterflies'' (E. W. Classey, London 1972) * Smart, Paul (1976). ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Butterfly World in Color''. London, Salamander: ''Encyclopedie des papillons''. Lausanne, Elsevier Sequoia (French language edition) page 159 fig. 19 as ''B. archidamas'' Bsdv., underside (Chile), fig. 17 as ''polydamas'' (Mexico) polydamas antiquus Extinct butterflies Butterflies described in 1906 Butterfly subspecies Hypothetical extinct species {{Papilionidae-stub