''Papilio zenobia'', the Zenobia swallowtail or Volta swallowtail, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of swallowtail butterfly from the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail (''Papilio machaon''), ...

'' that is found in Guinea,

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, Liberia, Ivory Coast,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of the Congo and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

. It was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1775. The habitat consists of wetter forest in good to reasonable condition. The larvae feed on ''

Piper Piper may refer to: People * Piper (given name) * Piper (surname) Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Comics * Piper (Morlock), in the Marvel Universe * Piper (Mutate), in the Marvel Universe Television * Piper Chapman, lea ...

'' species, including ''

Piper umbellatum ''Pothomorphe umbellatum'', or pariparoba, is a plant of Brazilian origin (atlantic wood)that has been traditionally used in folk remedies for digestive and liver-related maladies. In 2002, a research group based at the Tokyo Medical and Dental ...

''.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''zenobia''

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 ...

. In the ''zenobia'' group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble butterflies of the genus ''

Amauris ''Amauris'' is a genus of nymphalid butterflies in the Danainae subfamily. ''Amauris niavius niavius'', ''Amauris echeria jacksoni'', and ''Amauris dominicanus'' are mimicked by ''Papilio dardanus'' females. Other mimics of ''Amauris'' are fou ...

''. Both sexes lack tails. The clade members are: *'' Papilio cyproeofila'' Butler, 1868 *'' Papilio fernandus'' Fruhstorfer, 1903 *''

Papilio filaprae ''Papilio filaprae'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. The species was first described by ...

'' Suffert, 1904 *''

Papilio gallienus ''Papilio gallienus'', the narrow-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the central part of the Republic of the Congo. Taxonomy ''Papilio gallie ...

'' Distant, 1879 *''

Papilio mechowi ''Papilio mechowi'' is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae found in Africa. Subspecies *''Papilio mechowi mechowi'' (Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, southern Sudan, Uganda, Republic of the Congo, Angola) *''Papilio mechowi whitnall ...

'' Dewitz, 1881 *''

Papilio mechowianus ''Papilio mechowianus'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Angola and the Republic of the Congo. Taxonomy It is a member of the ''zenobia'' species group. In the ''zenobia'' group the basic uppers ...

'' Dewitz, 1885 *'' Papilio nobicea'' Suffert, 1904 *''Papilio zenobia'' Fabricius, 1775

Diagnosis

It is very similar to '' Papilio cyproeofila'' but lacking white marginal spots on the hindwings. It is also close to '' Papilio nobicea'' but differs slightly in its cream bands, which are also of a different shape Larsen, Torben B., 2005 ''Butterflies of West Africa''. Apollo Books Stenstrup, Denmark . "Tail-less black with a very broad white median band; in the male the median band initially invades the discoidal cell of the forewing." (

Robert Herbert Carcasson Robert Herbert Carcasson (5 December 1918, in Cheltenham, UK – 23 September 1982, in Victoria, B.C., Canada) was an English entomologist who specialised in butterflies, but also authored two field guides to tropical fishes. He joined the Coryndon ...

, 1960)

References

* Carcasson, R. H. (1960)
"The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)"
''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society''. Key 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

Images
Global Butterfly Information System
Images (as subgenus ''Druryia'')

Images from

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

"''Papilio zenobia'' Fabricius, 1775"
''Insecta.pro''. With images.

zenobia Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city ...

Butterflies described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Papilionidae-stub