''Graphium epaminondas'', the Andaman swordtail, is a beautiful butterfly found in India that belongs to the swallowtail family. It was earlier considered a subspecies of fivebar swordtail (''

Graphium antiphates ''Graphium antiphates'', the five-bar swordtail, is a species of papilionid butterfly found in south and southeast Asia. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1775. Description The ground colour of the upperside of both males a ...

'') but has now been identified as a separate species.

Range

Though endemic to the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

of India, its distribution is insufficiently known. It has been seen in good numbers in

Mount Harriet National Park Mount Harriet National Park, officially renamed as Mount Manipur National Park, is a national park located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India. The park, established in 1969, covers about 4.62 km2 (18.00 mi2). ...

and other locations in the Andamans.Veenakumari, K. and Prashanth Mohanraj 1997. Rediscovery of ''Lethe europa tamuna'' with notes on other threatened butterflies from the Andamans and Nicobar Islands. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 51(3):273-27
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Description

It differs from ''Graphium antiphates'' chiefly in the greater width of the black markings on the upperside, especially of the basal and subbasal bands that cross the forewing, both of which also extend to the dorsum. On the hindwing the black markings of the underside on the basal and discal areas are not only seen by transparency from below, but are actually represented, though only partially, by black scaling; the width of the dark grey terminal portion is also greater, and it has a tendency to turn to dusky black anteriorly, so that the sub-terminal series of black lunules are obscured anteriorly and are difficult to make out. Underside: markings similar to those of the typical form, but broader; forewing with the discal transverse band that reaches from costa to vein 1; hindwing: the black bands that cross the cell broader and proportionately closer together. Has a 94–100 mm expanse.

Status

Insufficiently known.

Etymology

Named in the

classical tradition The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritua ...

to honour the Theban general Epaminondas.

References

General reading

* * Pathysa Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1879 Taxa named by Charles Oberthür {{Papilionidae-stub