''Papilio godeffroyi'', the Godeffroy's swallowtail, ( Samoan ') is a

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 ...

of 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 ...

. ''Papilio godeffroyi'' was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to all of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, but it is now found only on the island of

Tutuila Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Au ...

, where it is uncommon but widespread and restricted to undisturbed or near-undisturbed rainforest. It was last seen in Samoa in 1979. This is only around 5% of its original range, and the species has recently been submitted to the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

as critically endangered. The larva feeds on ''

Micromelum minutum ''Micromelum minutum'', commonly known as limeberry, dilminyin (east Arnhem Land). kimiar margibur ( Murray Island), tulibas tilos (Philippines), sesi (Indonesia) and samui (Thailand), is a species of small tree or shrub in the citrus plant fam ...

'' (

Rutaceae The Rutaceae is a family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in BoDD – Botanical Derm ...

), locally called ''talafalu''. The species, named to honour

Johann Cesar VI. Godeffroy Johann Cesar Godeffroy (7 July 1813 in Kiel – 9 February 1885 in Blankenese) was a German trader, blackbirder and Hanseat. He was the founder of Museum Godeffroy. Family history and the trading company J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn The Godeffroys ...

, is illustrated on a Samoan postage stamp issued on 14 December 2001. In July 2023 the Samoa Conservation Society announced plans to reintroduce the butterfly to Samoa.

References

*Hopkins, G. 1927. ''Butterflies of Samoa and Some Neighboring Island-groups''. Insects of Samoa. Part III. Fascicle 1. London: Bishop Museum Natural History, pp 1–64. godeffroyi Butterflies of Oceania Endemic fauna of Samoa Invertebrates of American Samoa Tutuila Butterflies described in 1866 Taxa named by Georg Semper {{Papilionidae-stub

See also

References