Protographium marcellus

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Protographium marcellus
Protographium marcellus, summer form

Protographium marcellus , summer form

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Butterflies (Lepidoptera)
Family : Knight Butterfly (Papilionidae)
Subfamily : Papilioninae
Genre : Protographium
Type : Protographium marcellus
Scientific name
Protographium marcellus
( Cramer , 1777)

Protographium marcellus , formerly by some authors in the genres Eurytides , Iphiclides , Graphium or Papilio listed, is a butterfly ( butterfly ) from the family of the swallowtail butterfly (Papilionidae).

Protographium marcellus is the official state butterfly of US -amerikanischen state of Tennessee .

description

butterfly

The wingspan of the moth is 64 to 104 millimeters. All wings have a whitish base color. On the top of the wings there are black horizontal stripes, which are similar to the drawing of zebras , which is why the name Zebra Swallowtail (Zebra Swallowtail) is common for the species in English . A spring and a summer generation are formed, the latter having somewhat wider and more distinctive black horizontal stripes. The hind wings each show a red and a bluish, black nucleus eye-spot near the tornus . The very long black, white-rimmed tails, which make the species practically unmistakable, are typical of the species. The underside of the hind wings shows all the features of the upper side in the same places in a slightly paler design, but also shows a narrow red horizontal stripe.

egg

The spherical eggs are initially yellow-green, but change their color to red-brown tones after a few hours. They are deposited individually on the leaves of a food plant.

Caterpillar

Adult caterpillars form two color variants. They are either light green with yellowish horizontal stripes between the individual segments and black dots or blackish with orange horizontal stripes. To ward off enemies, they are equipped with an osmaterium on the head.

Doll

The doll is marbled brown and shows a pointed hump on the thorax and two short horns on the head.

  • Spring form

  • Underside of a female laying an egg

  • Green shape of the caterpillar

  • Dark shape of the caterpillar

  • Doll

Similar species

Some other species of the genera Protographium and Iphiclides are similar to Protographium marcellus . However, these have shorter tails. They either lack the typical zebra drawing or they occur in completely different regions of the world, for example:

distribution and habitat

distribution

Protographium marcellus is found in the eastern, some central and southeastern states of the United States. In Florida which is a subspecies Protographium marcellus floridensis home. The species prefers to live in open forest landscapes.

Way of life

The moths form two generations per year, which can be found from May to December. They like to visit different flowers to take in nectar or take in liquids and minerals in damp places on the earth. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of various annonaceous (Annonaceae), in particular of the genus pawpaw ( Asimina ), for example trilobal pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ), Asimina longifolia , Asimina parviflora , Asimina angustifolia , Asimina incana , Asimina reticulata , Asimina pygmea and Asimina obovata . The second generation pupae overwinter.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official State Butterflies http://www.netstate.com/states/tables/state_butterflies.htm
  2. ↑ Butterflies and Moths of North America http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Eurytides-marcellus
  3. ↑ a b c d James A. Scott: The Butterflies of North America: A Natural History and Field Guide. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-8047-2013-4 , pp. 162/163
  4. ↑ Distribution http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/papilionidae/papilioninae/protographium/index.html#marcellus

literature

  • James A. Scott: The Butterflies of North America , Stanford University Press, Stanford CA., 1992, ISBN 0-8047-2013-4 , pp. 162/163

Web links

Commons : Eurytides marcellus  - collection of images, videos and audio files