Battus (butterfly)
Genus of butterflies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Battus is a New World genus of butterflies that are usually found around pipevine (genus Aristolochia) plants. The caterpillars feed off the poisonous pipevines, making the insects poisonous themselves; they taste very bad to ward off predators.[1] Since birds avoid these butterflies, other swallowtail species mimic their coloration. The common North American species are Battus polydamas and Battus philenor.
| Battus | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pipevine swallowtail (Battus philenor) | |
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| Polydamas swallowtail (Battus polydamas) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Tribe: | Troidini |
| Genus: | Battus Scopoli, 1777 |
| Type species | |
| Papilio polydamas Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
Etymology
In Greek mythology, Battus is a shepherd who witnessed Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle. Because he broke his promise not to reveal this theft, Hermes turned him to stone.
Species
Listed alphabetically within groups:[2][3]
subgenus: Battuosa Möhn, 1999
- species group: belus Möhn, 1999
- Battus belus (Cramer, 1777) – Belus swallowtail
- Battus crassus (Cramer, 1777) – Crassus swallowtail
- Battus eracon (Godman & Salvin, 1897) – west-Mexican swallowtail, Colima swallowtail
- Battus ingenuus (Dyar, 1907) – Dyar's swallowtail, confused swallowtail
- Battus laodamas (C. & R. Felder, 1859) – green-patch swallowtail, yellow-spotted swallowtail
- Battus lycidas (Cramer, [1777]) – Cramer's swallowtail, yellow-trailed swallowtail
- Battus polystictus (Butler, 1874)
- species group: madyes Möhn, 1999
- Battus madyes (Doubleday, 1846) – Madyes swallowtail
subgenus: Battus Möhn, 1999
- species group: philenor
- Battus devilliersii (Godart, 1823)
- Battus philenor (Linnaeus, 1771) – pipevine swallowtail
- Battus zetides (Munroe, 1971) – Zetides swallowtail
- species group: polydamus Möhn, 1999
- Battus polydamas (Linnaeus, 1758) – Polydamas swallowtail, gold rim swallowtail, or tailless swallowtail
Museum specimen of Battus philenor
Battus philenor caterpillar, high-temperature red form
Battus philenor caterpillar, low temperature black form
Battus philenor pupa
