''Papilio phorcas'', the apple-green swallowtail or green-banded swallowtail, 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 ...

. It is found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The larvae feed on '' Teclea nobilis'', '' Teclea simplicifolia'', '' Macrostylis villosa'', ''

Vepris ''Vepris'' is a genus of plant in family Rutaceae. It comprises around 90 species, mainly from tropical Africa, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands and at a lesser extent Arabia and India. Species , Plants of the World Online (PoWO) accepted th ...

'', ''

Calodendrum ''Calodendrum'' is a genus of medium-sized evergreen trees comprising two species from Africa. ''Calodendrum capense'', the Cape chestnut, is a well known tree that is widely cultivated, while ''Calodendrum eickii'' is a rare forest tree from Tan ...

'', ''

Clausena ''Clausena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. It was first defined by the Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman in 1768. It is distributed in Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

'', ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

'', ''

Fagara ''Zanthoxylum'' is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae i ...

'' and ''

Toddalia ''Zanthoxylum asiaticum'' is a species of plant in the family Rutaceae. Under its synonym ''Toddalia asiatica'', it was the only species in the monotypic genus ''Toddalia'', now included in ''Zanthoxylum''. It is known by the English name orange c ...

'' species.

Description

A tailed species. The ground colour is black, with green markings. File:Papilio phorcas female dorsal.jpg, Female dorsal view File:Papilio phorcas female ventral.jpg, Same, ventral File:Papilio phorcas male dorsal.jpg, Male, dorsal File:Papilio phorcas male ventral.jpg, Same, ventral File:Papilio phorcas male dorsal, green.jpg, More green looking male

Taxonomy

''Papilio phorcas'' is a member of the ''dardanus''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The members of the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

are: *''

Papilio dardanus ''Papilio dardanus'', the African swallowtail, mocker swallowtail or flying handkerchief, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae (the swallowtails). The species is broadly distributed throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The British e ...

'' Brown, 1776 *''

Papilio constantinus ''Papilio constantinus'', the Constantine's swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The wingspan is 70–90 mm in males and 80–95 mm in females. The ground colour is black with pale ...

'' Ward, 1871 *''

Papilio delalandei ''Papilio delalandei'' is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Taxonomy ''Papilio delalandei'' is a member of the ''dardanus'' species-group. The members of the clade are *''Papilio dardanus'' Brown, 1776 *''Pap ...

'' Godart,

824 __NOTOC__ Year 824 ( DCCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * November 11 – The '' Constitutio Romana'' establishes the authority of the ...

/small> *''Papilio phorcas'' Cramer,

775 __NOTOC__ Year 775 (Roman numerals, DCCLXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 775 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domi ...

/small> *''

Papilio rex ''Papilio rex'', the regal swallowtail or king papilio, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa. It is a semi-montane and montane forest (1, 300 m. to 2 600 m.) species. The larvae feed on '' Teclea tricocarpa'', '' Tecle ...

'' Oberthür, 1886

Subspecies

*''P. p. phorcas'' (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria) *''P. p. ansorgei'' Rothschild, 1896. (Kenya (highland forest east of the Rift Valley)) *''P. p. congoanus'' Rothschild, 1896 (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Congo Republic, western Uganda, western Tanzania, northern Zambia) *''P. p. nyikanus'' Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 (highland forest of north-eastern Zambia, Malawi and eastern Tanzania) *''P. p. ruscoei'' Krüger, 1928 (eastern Uganda, Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley)) *''P. p. sudanicola'' Storace, 1965 (southern Sudan) *''P. p. tenuifasciatus'' Kielland, 1990 (northern Tanzania, Kenya) *''P. p. bardamu'' Canu, 1994 Canu , J.G. 1994. Souvenirs entomologiques d'Afrique et des iles voisines (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera). ''Lambillionea '' 94 (3) (Tome I): 311-320 (Bioko Island)

Biogeographic realm

Afrotropical realm The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

References

*Carcasson, R.H. 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'
pdf
Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society) * *Storace, L.,1955 Su alcune Papilionidae Africane, con descrizioni di nuove forme (Lepidoptera, Diurna). ''Memorie della Societa Entomologica Italiana'' 33:120-137.

External links

Images from

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

Butterflies described in 1775 phorcas Taxa named by Pieter Cramer {{papilionidae-stub