Papilio palinurus

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Papilio palinurus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Papilio
Species:
P. palinurus
Binomial name
Papilio palinurus
Fabricius, 1787

Papilio palinurus, the emerald swallowtail, emerald peacock, or green-banded peacock, is a butterfly of the genus

Papilionidae. It is native to Southeast Asia, but is regularly kept in butterfly houses
around the world.

Subspecies

There are several

Burma, Borneo, Indonesia, Nias and the Philippines
).

  • P. p. palinurus – Burma, Malaysia Borneo
  • P. p. auffenbergi Späth, 1992 – Simeulue, Indonesia[1]
  • P. p. nymphodorus (Fruhstorfer) – Island of Basilan
  • P. p. adventus (Fruhstorfer) – Island of Nias
  • P. p. daedalus (C. & R. Felder, 1861) – Philippines
  • P. p. angustatus (Staudinger, 1888) –
    Island of Palawan
    , Philippines

Etymology

The genus name Papilio comes from the Latin word papilio meaning butterfly. The species name palinurus derives from Palinurus, the name of the pilot of Aeneas's boat in Virgil's Aeneid.

Description

Papilio palinurus has a wingspan reaching about 8–10 centimetres (3.1–3.9 in). The dorsal sides of the wings are covered by a powder of green scales and the background vary from dark greenish to black, with broad bright emerald green metallic bands. The undersides are black with orange, white and blue spots along the edges of hindwings, that show extended tails at the end.

The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Caterpillars feed on plants of genus

rue or citrus
family.

Green by structural coloration

The green of Papilio palinurus is created by structural coloration, using special microstructures in the wing scales.
Main article: Structural coloration

The iridescent green sheen of the bands of this butterfly is not produced by pigments, but is structural coloration produced by the microstructure of the wing scales. They refract the light and give rise to blue and yellow visible reflections, producing the perception of green color when additively mixed.[2][3][4]

Distribution

This species can be found primarily in Southeast Asia, particularly in

Busuanga, and Dumaran
).

Habitat

Papilio palinurus lives in Asian primary forests.

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Späth, Manfred (1992). "Zwei neue Taxa der Gattung Papilio Linnaeus 1758 aus Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)". Entomologische Zeitschrift. 102 (16): 289–304.
  2. PMID 22550931
    .
  3. S2CID 4430587
    .
  4. S2CID 42717015
    .

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Papilio palinurus (category)
Wikispecies has information related to Papilio palinurus.
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