Papilio aristodemus
| Papilio aristodemus | ||||||||||||
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Papilio aristodemus |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Papilio aristodemus | ||||||||||||
| ( Esper , 1794) |
Papilio aristodemus , also known by the English name Iceland Swallowtail ( "Island dovetail") or Schaus' Swallowtail ( "Schaus swallowtail", this name is but some authors for the subspecies ponceanus reserved Schaus) is a butterfly from the family of the swallowtail butterfly (Papilionidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 86 to 95 millimeters. The upper surfaces of the fore and hind wings are brown in basic color with a broad, yellow median band, yellow submarginal spots and a red and blue anal spot. The tail processes are long and spatulate. The undersides of the wings are somewhat more matt with a broad orange-brown band on the hind wing, which is followed by a clearly raised row with post-discal blue crescent-shaped spots. The sexes are very similar, but the females have a slightly larger wingspan on average.
The eggs are pale greenish-cream in color.
The caterpillar is maroon with white or cream colored spots that are slightly larger in the middle and at the rear end of the caterpillar. This makes them look similar to bird droppings ( mimesis ). The back also has blue dots. The belly legs are whitish, the head chestnut brown.
The color of the doll varies from rust brown to gray and is matt green.
Similar species
The species is similar to Papilio cresphontes , but the yellow spots are missing in the tail processes. The pale top bandages are narrower.
distribution and habitat
The species lives in or on the edge of expanding subtropical forest islands in rather dry areas in the Greater Antilles, Bahamas, Kayman Islands and South Florida up to about the height of Miami, rarely further north.
Way of life
It usually forms only one generation per year; the moths fly from late April to June, with a maximum in May. A second partial generation is rarely formed, the moths of which fly from late July to early September. The males patrol the crown area of the trees all day to look for females. The moths are good fliers, and in the Bahamas they can fly 1 km or more over open water from one island to the next. They have been seen sucking nectar from the flowers of real guava ( Psidium guajava ), Lysiloma latisiliqua, and Morinda royoc . The eggs are laid individually on the upper side of the leaves of the host plants.
The egg caterpillars hatch after about four to seven days. The caterpillars eat the young leaves and shoots tree shaped Rutaceae (Rutaceae) as Amyris elemifera and Zanthoxylum fagara . They molt four times before pupating. The last stage of the caterpillar is attached to a silk thread on a branch and spun into a rust-brown or gray cocoon.
The pupae overwinter, they can also overwinter.
Specialized enemies
The pre-imaginal stages are so frequently parasitized by parasitic wasps and flies that only about 3% of the eggs develop into moths.
Taxonomy
Some authors put the species in the subgenus or genus Heraclides . There are currently five subspecies:
- Papilio aristodemus aristodemus Esper, 1794. Hispaniola , Mona , Puerto Rico
- Papilio aristodemus ponceanus Schaus, 1911 ("Schaus Schwalbenschwanz"). South Florida , Northern Bahamas . The subspecies differs from the nominate subspecies by the narrower yellow band on the upper side of the wing; the undersides of the wings show a higher proportion of yellow.
- Papilio aristodemus temenes Godart, 1819. Cuba and Kayman Islands
- Papilio aristodemus majasi (L. Miller, 1987), Crooked Island and Acklin Island (Central Bahamas)
- Papilio aristodemus bjorndalae Clench, 1979, Mayaguana , Turks and Caicos Islands Inagua
supporting documents
literature
- James A. Scott (1987): The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. 584 pp., Stanford University Press, Stanford ISBN 0-8047-1205-0 Online at Google Books (p. 178)
- Collins, N. Mark and Morris, Michael G. and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (1985): Threatened swallowtail butterflies of the world: the IUCN red data book. 401 pp., IUCN, ISBN 2-88032-603-6 Online at archive.org .
- Albert Schwartz (1989): The Butterflies of Hispaniola. 583 pp., University of Florida Presses, ISBN 0-8130-0902-2 Online at Google Books
Individual proof
- ^ Scott (1987: 178)
Web links
- Butterflies of America - Papilio aristodemus aristodemus Esper, 1794
- Butterflies of America - Papilio aristodemus temenes Godart, 1819
- Butterflies of America - Papilio aristodemus ponceanus Schaus, 1911
- Butterflies of America - Papilio aristodemus majasi (L. Miller, 1987)
- Butterflies of America - Papilio aristodemus bjorndalae Clench, 1979 (here misspelled bjorndale )