Polyura sempronius
| Polyura sempronius | ||||||||||||
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Polyura sempronius |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Polyura sempronius | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1793) |
Polyura Sempronius is occurring in Australia and Indonesia butterfly from the family of Nymphalidae (Nymphalidae). The species was initially listed as a subspecies of Polyura pyrrhus . However, molecular phylogeny analyzes revealed that it is a species in its own right. It showed that previous taxonomic knowledge z. B. morphology, ecology, behavior, geographical distribution or divergence criteria for objective species delimitation within the genus Polyura are not sufficient. It was only with the help of DNA sequence data that specific species could be determined.
features
butterfly
The wingspan of the moth is 75 to 85 millimeters. There is no sexual dimorphism between the sexes , males and females show almost identical drawing elements , but the females are slightly larger. The basic color on the wing tops is milky white. The edge areas are colored black with the exception of the inner edge of the hind wings. There is a chain of white spots on the submarginal region . A black area extends from the apex of the forewings to the cell . At the anal corner of the hind wings stand out a bright red eye spot and two tail processes. The undersides of the wings show the pattern of the upper sides in a weakened form and additionally show dark spots on the forewings and gray-brown to yellow-brown lines on the hind wings.
Pre-imaginal stages
The egg is round, smooth and colored yellow. A red-brown area extends around the slightly flattened micropyle .
The caterpillar is brownish to greenish in color in its first stages. There are four horn-like tubercles on the head and two on the anal segment . The heads of the fully grown grass-green caterpillars are well developed. There are morphs that are strongly or slightly yellowish stripes.
The pupa has a squat shape, is predominantly green in color and shows whitish spots on the wing sheaths. It is attached to branches or leaves as a falling doll .
Young caterpillar
Adult caterpillar
(strongly striated)
Adult caterpillar
(weakly striated)
Doll
distribution and habitat
The species occurs in the north and east of Australia and on some islands belonging to Indonesia. Polyura sempronius prefers to colonize subtropical coastal areas.
Way of life
The moths fly in the Australian summer between October and March. They do not visit flowers, but occasionally suckle on damp places in the earth, excrement, injured trees or overripe fruits. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of Acacia - Brachychiton - or Robinia species ( Robinia ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Emmanuel FA Toussaint, Jerome Moriniere, Chris J. Muller, Krushnamegh Kunte, Bernard Turlin, Axel Hausmann, Michael Balke: Comparative molecular species delimitation in the charismatic Nawab butterflies (Nymphalidae, Charaxinae, Polyura) , Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 91 , 2015, pp. 194–209 (accessed at http://biodiversitylab.org/sites/default/files/images/website/ToussaintEtal_MolecularSystematicsOfCharaxes%28Polyura%29_2015.pdf on April 2, 2018)
- ↑ Tailed Emperor Factsheet
Web links
- Lepiforum e. V. - Polyura sempronius in the lepiforum
- butterfliesdorrigo - Tailed Emperor
- kooka.info - photos
- eol.org - Encyclopedia of Life