''Parides alopius'', the white-dotted cattleheart, is an

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 ...

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

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 ...

in 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 has also strayed once into the United States in southeastern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

.Jim P. Brock and Kenn Kaufman (2003). ''Butterflies of North America''. Houghton Mifflin, New York, NY.

Description

The upperside of the wings is black with the hindwing having two rows of submarginal spots: the first row, white; and the second row, pink. Males have fewer white spots than females. The underside of the wings are similar except the hindwing pink spots are more conspicuous. It has a

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 ...

of .A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906)

Flight

This species has been seen on the wing from March to November."White-dotted Cattleheart"
, Butterflies and Moths of North America

Habitat

The white-dotted cattleheart may be encountered in pine-oak forests.

Life cycle

The larva is ringed with black and white bands and has yellow and reddish-brown fleshy projections. Each side of the body contains red, orange and white spots. The chrysalis is shaped very similar to that of the pipevine swallowtail (''

Battus philenor ''Battus philenor'', the pipevine swallowtail or blue swallowtail, Retrieved April 19, 2018. is a swallowtail butterfly found in North America and Central America. This butterfly is black with iridescent-blue hindwings. They are found in many d ...

''). It is blue green with the head, parts of the thorax, and abdomen a bright yellow green. It is unknown whether the chrysalis has a brown form or not."Parides alopius"
Mariposa Mexicanas

Host plants

The only recorded host plant for the white-dotted cattleheart is Watson's pipevine (''

Aristolochia watsonii ''Aristolochia watsonii'' (Watson's Dutchman's pipe, southwestern pipevine, Indian root, snakeroot) is a perennial plantAristolochia watsonii: Watson's Dutchman's Pipe / Desert Pipevine, Garden Oracle, Gardening in Tucson, Phoenix, and the Desert ...

'').

Status

It is uncommon and known from very few localities, but is not known to be threatened.Tyler, H.A. (1975). ''The Swallowtail Butterflies of North America''. Naturegraph Publishers, viii + 192 pp.

Etymology

The specific name comes from the

classical tradition The Western classical tradition is the reception of classical Greco-Roman antiquity by later cultures, especially the post-classical West, involving texts, imagery, objects, ideas, institutions, monuments, architecture, cultural artifacts, ritua ...

. Alopius was the son of Antiope the daughter of

Thespius In Greek mythology, Thespius (; Ancient Greek: Θέσπιος ''Théspios'') or Thestius (; Ancient Greek: Θέστιος)Pausanias, 9.27.7 was a legendary founder and king of Thespiae, Boeotia. His life account is considered part of Greek mythology ...

References

External links

''Parides alopius''
Butterflies of America {{Taxonbar, from=Q1951437

alopius In Greek mythology, Alopius (Ancient Greek: Ἀλόπιος) was the Thespian son of Heracles and Antiope, daughter of King Thespius of Thespiae. Mythology Alopius and his 49 half-brothers were born of Thespius' daughters who were impregnated by ...

Butterflies of North America Endemic Lepidoptera of Mexico Taxa named by Frederick DuCane Godman Taxa named by Osbert Salvin Butterflies described in 1890 Fauna of the Sierra Madre Occidental Fauna of the Sierra Madre del Sur