''Papilio prexaspes'', the blue Helen, is a swallowtail butterfly found in Southeast Asia. The race found in the

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands * Andaman Sea * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film * ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film * ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film See also * Andaman and Nicobar Islands ...

and

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

, ''Papilio prexaspes andamanicus'' (earlier placed under ''Papilio fuscus''), is also known as the Andaman Helen.

Description

The taxonomic description below is of race ''prexaspes'' and is taken from

Charles Thomas Bingham Charles Thomas Bingham (16 April 1848, India – 18 October 1908 West Kensington, London) was an Irish military officer and entomologist. Bingham was born in India of an old Irish family, and he was educated in Ireland.Kirby, W.F , 1909 Obitua ...

's 1907 book (in the public domain): NovaraExpZoologischeTheilLepidopteraAtlasTaf15

Closely resembles '' Papilio chaon'', from which it differs as follows: smaller; fore wing more produced, its termen concave. Male has the ground colour of the upperside of the wings a more brownish sooty-black. Hind wing with the upper discal white patch extended into interspace 4, most usually very slightly so, often represented only by a very small spot of white scaling, a white spot also above the tornal angle. Underside, fore wing: the internervular brownish-yellow streaks limited to the apical area of the wing. Hind wing: the upper discal patch extended to the dorsum in a series of three pure white not ochraceous-tinted spots, a more or less incomplete postdiscal series of lunules formed of diffuse blue scales, and the subterminal series of ochraceous lunules of a darker colour and smaller than in ''chaon''; the rest as in ''chaon''. The upperside of the wing in females has the ground-colour paler than in ''chaon''. Fore wing with an ill-defined broad pale discal band perceptibly widened and becoming whitish opposite apex of cell. Hind wing: the extension into interspace 4 of the upper discal white patch more pronounced than in the male, the small white spot above the tornal angle followed in some specimens by a blue ill-defined lunule and an ochraceous spot. Underside, fore wing: the transverse discal hand white and much more prominent than on the upperside. Hind wing: the postdiscal series of blue lunules generally complete and well-marked: the rest as in the male.

Taxonomy

''Papilio prexaspes'' is a member of the ''fuscus''

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 ...

. The members of this

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, ...

are: * '' Papilio albinus'' Wallace, 1865 * '' Papilio diophantus'' Grose-Smith, 1883 * '' Papilio fuscus'' Goeze, 1779 * '' Papilio hipponous'' C. & R. Felder, 1862 * '' Papilio jordani'' Fruhstorfer, 1906 * '' Papilio pitmani'' Elwes & de Nicéville, 887/small> * ''Papilio prexaspes'' C. & R. Felder, 1865 * '' Papilio sakontala'' Hewitson, 1864

References

External links

* http://yutaka.it-n.jp/pap/10410010.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20091028145941/http://geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/2382/papilionidae/bluhelen.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q7132956

prexaspes Prexaspes ( el, Πρηξάσπης, translit=Prēxáspēs) was a prominent Persian during the reign of Cambyses II (530–522 BC), the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, when Cambyses ordered his trusted ...

Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Singapore Lepidoptera of Thailand Insects of Myanmar Insects of Vietnam Butterflies described in 1779

Description

Taxonomy

See also

References

Other reading

External links