''Papilio thuraui'' 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
Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...
,
Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...
,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...
and the
Republic of the Congo.
Description
Blue median band absent and a complete series of blue submarginal spots in both wings. Both wings above black-brown without median band, but with blue submarginal
spots and the forewing also in the middle between the apex of the cell and the distal margin with three small blue spots in cellules 3, 4 and 6; forewing beneath with four large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4. — German East Africa: Ubena.
Original description
File:Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900 Ent. Nachr. 1 (4).jpg , ''Entomologische Nachrichten''
File:Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900 Ent. Nachr. 1 (2).jpg ,
File:Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900 Ent. Nachr. 1 (3).jpg ,
Subspecies
*''P. t. thuraui'' (southern Tanzania, northern Malawi)
*''P. t. cyclopis''
Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 . (Malawi, Zambia)
*''P. t. occidua''
Storace, 1951 (Republic of the Congo, Malawi, north-eastern Zambia)
*''P. t. heathi''
(Hancock, 1984) [Hancock, D.L. (1984). The ''Princeps nireus'' group of swallowtails (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) systematics, phylogeny and biogeography. ''Arnoldia'' Zimbabwe 9(12): 181-215.] (Malawi)
*''P. t. ngorongoro''
(Hancock, 1984) (northern Tanzania)
*''P. t. viphya''
(Hancock, 1984) (Malawi)
Biology
The larvae feed on ''
Toddalia asiatica''.
Taxonomy
''Papilio thuraui'' belongs to a
clade called the ''nireus''
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 ...
with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots. The butterflies, although called swallowtails, lack tails with the exception of ''Papilio charopus'' and ''Papilio hornimani''. The clade members are:
*''
Papilio aristophontes''
Oberthür, 1897
*''
Papilio nireus''
Linnaeus, 1758
*''
Papilio charopus''
Westwood, 1843
*''
Papilio chitondensis''
de Sousa & Fernandes, 1966
*''
Papilio chrapkowskii''
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
Biogeographic realm
This species is located in the
Afrotropical realm.
See also
*
Albertine Rift montane forests
*
Congolian forests
The Congolian rainforests are a broad belt of lowland tropical moist broadleaf forests which extend across the basin of the Congo River and its tributaries in Central Africa. They are the only major rainforests which absorb more carbon than they ...
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
Global Butterfly Information SystemImages
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 ...
External images R C Dening collectionGlobis images
thuraui
Butterflies described in 1900
Butterflies of Africa
Taxa named by Ferdinand Karsch
{{Papilionidae-stub