''Papilio phorbanta'', also known as the small Réunion swallowtail (or papillon la pâture in French), is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

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 larg ...

. It is thought to be

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 else ...

to Réunion but may also be present on the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

, but it might be extinct there. The inside of the male's wings is black with large blue spots, while the female is brown with white spots on the edge. Larvae feed on '' Toddalia asiatica'' but are sometimes also found on ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

'' leaves. They can be found at altitudes between 300 and 1200 m though adults also fly between sea level and 1400 m. Parasites: on eggs:

Trichogrammatidae The Trichogrammatidae are a family of tiny wasps in the Chalcidoidea that include some of the smallest of all insects, with most species having adults less than 1 mm in length, with species of '' Megaphragma'' having an adult body length ...

Scelionidae The hymenopteran family Scelionidae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species in some 176 genera) of exclusively parasitoid wasps, mostly small (0.5–10 mm), often black, often highly sculptured, with (typically) elbowe ...

, on larvae: '' Carcelia evoluans''.''Les Papillons de la Réunion'' ISBN BIOTOPE: 978-2-914817-07-3 - page 124-126 ''Papilio phorbanta'' is protected by ministerial ordinance that prohibits capture, sale and transport since 1993.

Subspecies

*''Papilio phorbanta phorbanta'' (Reunion) *''Papilio phorbanta nana'' Oberthür, 1879 (Seychelles)

References

phorbanta Butterflies of Africa Lepidoptera of Réunion Butterflies described in 1771 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Endemic fauna of Réunion {{Papilionidae-stub