''Papilio birchallii'' is a
species of
Neotropical 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 ...
from the
genus ''
Papilio
''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly.
It includes the common yellow swallowtail (''Papilio machaon''), ...
'' that is found in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Panama and
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 ...
.
Description
Male: body black, claspers usually with pale yellow spot. Forewing above with 2 rows of spots before the margin; the anterior spots of the proximal row more or less indistinct; hindwing with broad discal band and a row of submarginal spots; the markings for the most part greenish; tooth of the 3. radial only a little more projecting than the other marginal teeth. Beneath the forewing has a cell-spot, an oblique row of discal spots and a row of submarginal spots abbreviated anteriorly; on the hindwing is a discal and a submarginal row of red spots, the middle discal spots small, the last one large and yellowish
white. In the female the markings of the upperside are more bluish and the discal band of the hindwing is very broad.
[Lewis, H. L., 1974 ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 24, figure 14.]
Biology
The larvae feed on ''
Hernandia didymanthera
''Hernandia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hernandiaceae. It was named after the Spanish botanist Francisco Hernández de Toledo.
Species
, ''Plants of the World Online'' accepted the following species:
* ''Hernandia albiflora'' ...
''.
Subspecies
*''Papilio birchallii birchallii'' (Colombia)
*''Papilio birchallii bryki''
Strand, 1930 (Panama, Costa Rica)
References
birchallii
Butterflies described in 1863
Papilionidae of South America
Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson
{{Papilionidae-stub