''Parides gundlachianus'', the Cuban cattleheart, is a species of

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 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 ...

species found only in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. The name honours the Cuban naturalist

Juan Gundlach Juan Cristóbal Gundlach (17 July 1810 in Marburg – 14 March 1896 in Havana), born Johannes Christoph Gundlach was a Cuban naturalist and taxonomist. Biography Gundlach graduated from Marburg University, where his father was professor of phys ...

. It is the brightest-coloured American swallowtail, and may be recognised by the brilliant blue bands on the forewing. The ground colour is brown to black. The upperside forewing has a blue to green median band and possibly one to two spots close to the apex. The hindwings have a long tail and on either side two indentations like short tails. The upperside hindwing has a broad red submarginal band. A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906) The dark ash-grey larva is striped longitudinally, the head and thoracic legs are black; the black longitudinal stripes in part margined with white; the anterior and posterior segments bear long pointed tubercles which are partly white. Occurs in the mountainous eastern part of the island, especially near the coast, where it is met with on flowers, and sometimes also drinking at pools.

Subspecies

*''Parides gundlachianus gundlachianus'' (eastern Cuba) *''Parides gundlachianus alayoi'' Hernández, Alayón & Smith, 1995 (western Cuba)

Taxonomy

''Parides gundlachianus'' is a member of the ''ascanius''

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 ...

("Fringe-spots white. Hindwing with submarginal spots and usnally also diseal spots or dots, or a discal band ;mostly with tail") A quadrate whitish spot in space 2 of the forewings is quite peculiar of the ''ascanius group''Racheli, Tommaso an Olmisani. Luca 1998. A cladistic analysis of the genus ''Parides'' Hubner,

819 __NOTOC__ Year 819 (Roman numerals, DCCCXIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I marries Judith ...

based on androconial structures (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae). ''Neue Ent. Nachr''. (Marktleuthen),41:119-13
pdf
/ref> The members are :*'' Parides agavus'' (Drury, 1782) :*'' Parides alopius'' (Godman & Salvin,

890 __NOTOC__ Year 890 ( DCCCXC) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * The Frankish nobles, who have ruled Provence in anarchy (since 887), declare Lo ...

:*''

Parides ascanius ''Parides ascanius'', the Fluminense swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Brazil where it is confined to the municipalities of Atafona (São João da Barra) and Itaguaí. Description ''Parides asca ...

'' (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 ...

:*''

Parides bunichus ''Parides bunichus'' is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. The larva is brownish black, with an oblique white band, extending laterally from the 6th segment to the tubercle on the 7th. ...

'' (Hübner,

821 __NOTOC__ Year 821 ( DCCCXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine general Thomas the Slav leads a revolt, and secures control ...

:*''Parides gundlachianus'' (C. & R. Felder, 1864) :*'' Parides montezuma'' (Westwood, 1842) :*'' Parides phalaecus'' (Hewitson, 1869) :*''

Parides photinus ''Parides photinus'', the pink-spotted cattleheart, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1844. Description ''Parides photinus'' has a wingspan reaching . Adults are black with the h ...

'' (Doubleday, 1844) :*'' Parides proneus'' (Hübner,

831 __NOTOC__ Year 831 ( DCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Byzantine–Arab War: Emperor Theophilos invades the Abbasid dominion ...

Status

Found only in forests in Cuba and not rare but requiring monitoring.

Etymology

The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

honours the Cuban naturalist

References

*Hamilton A. Tyler; Keith S. Brown; Kent H. Wilson 1992 ''Swallowtail Butterflies of the Americas'' Scientific Pub *Lewis, H. L., 1974 ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 26, figure 4 as ''columbus'', figure 10 as ''gundlachianus''.

External links

Butterflies of America: ''Parides gundlachianus''
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type specimens In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

''Parides gundlachianus''
gundlachianus Butterflies of Cuba Endemic fauna of Cuba Taxa named by Juan Gundlach Butterflies described in 1864 {{Papilionidae-stub