''Papilio torquatus'', the torquatus swallowtail, is a
swallowtail butterfly
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 large ...
in the subfamily
Papilioninae
Papilioninae is a subfamily of the butterfly family Papilionidae. Papilioninae are found worldwide, but most species are distributed in the tropics. There are roughly 480 species, of which 27 occur in North America.
Tribes
This subfamily consis ...
. It is found from northern
Argentina to
Mexico.
The
wingspan is . Adults strongly resemble ''
Papilio garleppi
''Papilio garleppi'' is a species of Neotropical butterfly in the family Papilionidae first described by Otto Staudinger in 1892. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.
Description
The male is similar to ''Pa ...
''.
The larvae feed on the leaves of ''
Citrus'' species. Full-grown larvae are mottled in dull tones of brown, greenish-yellow and whitish. It resembles a bird dropping.
Subspecies
*''P. t. torquatus'' (Venezuela, Guianas to Brazil (Amazonas), Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia)
*''P. t. mazai''
Beutelspacher, 1977 (Mexico, El Salvador)
*''P. t. tolmides''
Godman & Salvin, 1890 (Panama, Costa Rica)
*''P. t. tolus''
Godman & Salvin, 1890 (Mexico, Guatemala)
*''P. t. leptalea''
Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (western Ecuador)
*''P. t. polybius''
Swainson, 1823 (Brazil (Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso), Paraguay, Argentina)
*''P. t. jeani''
(Brown & Lamas, 1994) (Colombia, western Venezuela)
References
*Lewis, H.L., (1974) ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 25, figure 12 (male), figure 13 (female).
External links
*
Butterflies and Moths of North AmericaButterflies of Sangay National Park
torquatus
Torquatus, masculine (''torquata'', feminine; ''torquatum'', neuter), is a Latin word meaning "adorned with a neck chain or collar" and may refer to:
People
*Lucius Manlius Torquatus
* Titus Manlius Torquatus (235 BC)
* Silanus
**Marcus Jun ...
Papilionidae of South America
Butterflies described in 1777
{{Papilionidae-stub