King Swallowtail
| King Swallowtail | ||||||||||||
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King Swallowtail ( Papilio thoas ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Papilio thoas | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1771 |
The king swallowtail ( Papilio thoas ) is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the knight butterfly (Papilionidae).
description
It is a widespread butterfly from tropical and subtropical America . It has a wingspan of 12 to 14 cm. The wings are narrow. The forewings are largely brown. A yellow band runs from the tip, which becomes more compact towards the back. On the underside there are also a number of yellow bow marks on the wing edge. The hind wings are mostly brown, toothed and have a long tail. This has a yellow core. On the edge of the hind wings there is a row of yellow arc spots. A wide yellow band runs through the first half of the wing. Inside there is a black eye-spot with blue-white pollination. The yellow regions are more pronounced on the undersides of the wings. Blue-white arc spots connect to the yellow arc spots on the upper side. The eye spot is only weakly pronounced. The body of the king swallowtail is yellow. Males and females look identical.
The moth is very similar to the larger Papilio cresphontes .
distribution
The king swallowtail is common in the Neotropical fauna region. With the exception of Venezuela , Chile and Eastern Brazil , it is native to all of Central and South America.
Subspecies and forms
The following subspecies have been described:
- Papilio thoas autocles ( Rothschild & Jordan , 1906)
- Papilio thoas brasiliensis (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) small stature
- Papilio thoas melonius (Rothschild & Jordan)
- Papilio thoas nealces (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906)
- Papilio thoas oviedo (Gundlach, 1866)
- Papilio thoas thoantiades (Burmeister)
biology
The caterpillars feed polyphagously on various rhombus plants such as citrus plants ( Citrus ), Zanthoxylum americanum , clover elm ( Ptelea trifoliata ) and pepper plants (Piperaceae), as well as Caesalpinias ( Caesalpinia ). The moths were nectar-sucking on various types of Lantana - ( Lantana ) and bougainvillea observed. In the tropics, the species forms new generations all year round. In Texas , the moths fly from April to July.
swell
Individual evidence
- ↑ Papilio thoas (King's Swallowtail, Machaon de roi, Thoas Swallowtail). Thomas Neubauer: butterflycorner, accessed on October 28, 2010 .
- ↑ Thoas Swallowtail Papilio thoas Linnaeus, 1771. (No longer available online.) Butterflies and Moths of North America, archived from the original on June 20, 2010 ; Retrieved October 28, 2010 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
