''Papilio desmondi'', the Desmond's green-banded swallowtail, is a
butterfly of the family
Papilionidae. It is found in
Africa.
The larvae feed on ''
Vepris eugeniifolia
''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 t ...
'', other ''
Vepris'' species, ''
Clausena'', ''
Zanthoxylum'', ''
Calodendrum'', and ''
Citrus'' species.
Subspecies
*''Papilio desmondi desmondi'' (Chyulu Hills of south-eastern Kenya)
*''Papilio desmondi magdae''
Gifford, 1961 . (northern Tanzania)
*''Papilio desmondi teita''
van Someren, 1960 (south-eastern Kenya)
*''Papilio desmondi usambaraensis''
(Koçak, 1980) (Tanzania, northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia)
Description
The blue median band of the upper surface is somewhat narrower than in ''Papilio desmondi'' and the spot in the cell of the forewing reaches basad at most to vein 3.Forewing beneath with large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4. German and British East Africa. There are sharp nervular indentations at the margin of the blue band in the fore wing.
[Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln
(The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.]
Taxonomy
''Papilio desmondi'' belongs to a
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, ...
called the ''nireus''
species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of ''Papilio charopus'' and ''Papilio hornimani''. The clade members are:
*''
Papilio aristophontes
''Papilio aristophontes'' is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Comoros.
It is listed as a red list species due to its rarity and the threats to its survival. The eggs are laid on the plant ''Toddalia asiatica'' ...
''
Oberthür, 1897
*''
Papilio nireus
''Papilio nireus'', the green-banded swallowtail, narrow-banded blue swallowtail, or African blue-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Description
The wingspan is in males and in fe ...
''
Linnaeus, 1758
*''
Papilio charopus
''Papilio charopus'', the tailed green-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Subspecies
*' ...
''
Westwood, 1843
*''
Papilio chitondensis''
de Sousa & Fernandes, 1966
*''
Papilio chrapkowskii
''Papilio chrapkowskii'', the broad green-banded swallowtail or Chrapkowski's green-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The larvae feed on ''Vepris'' ...
''
Suffert, 1904
*''
Papilio chrapkowskoides''
Storace, 1952
*''Papilio desmondi''
van Someren, 1939
*''
Papilio hornimani''
Distant, 1879
*''
Papilio interjectana''
Vane-Wright, 1995
*''
Papilio manlius''
Fabricius, 1798
*''
Papilio microps''
Storace, 1951
*''
Papilio sosia''
Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
*''
Papilio thuraui''
Karsch, 1900
*''
Papilio ufipa''
Carcasson, 1961
*''
Papilio wilsoni''
Rothschild, 1926
References
*Carcasson, R.H. (1960). "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'
pdfKey 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)
External links
*
Butterflies described in 1939
desmondi
{{papilionidae-stub