Papilio desmondi
Species of butterfly
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Papilio desmondi, the Desmond's green-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.[2]
| Desmond's green-banded swallowtail | |
|---|---|
| |
| Mud-puddling | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Papilionidae |
| Genus: | Papilio |
| Species: | P. desmondi |
| Binomial name | |
| Papilio desmondi Van Someren, 1939[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The larvae feed on Vepris eugeniifolia, other Vepris species, Clausena, Zanthoxylum, Calodendrum, and Citrus species.
Subspecies
Description
The blue median band of the upper surface is somewhat narrower than in Papilio desmondi and the spot in the cell of the forewing reaches basad at most to vein 3.Forewing beneath with large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4. Found in east Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi. There are sharp nervular indentations at the margin of the blue band in the fore wing.[6]
Taxonomy
Papilio desmondi belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani.
