''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 Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is . Adults strongly resemble '' Papilio garleppi''. The larvae feed on the leaves of ''

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 ...

'' 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