Byasa alcinous

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Atrophaneura_alcinous_1856_(2).jpg

| image_caption =

| image2 = Atrophaneura_alcinous_1856_(1).jpg

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| taxon = Byasa alcinous

| authority = (Klug, 1836)

| synonyms =

  • Papilio alcinous Klug, 1836
  • Papilio alcinous Rothschild, 1895
  • Papilio spathatus Butler, 1881
  • Papilio haemotostictus Butler, 1881
  • Papilio (Pharmacophagus) alcinous m.v. veris Sheljuzhko
  • Tros alcinous
  • Atrophaneura alcinous[http://193.166.3.2/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/papilionidae/papilioninae/atrophaneura/index.html Funet.fi]

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Byasa alcinous,{{cite web |url=http://www.insects-online.de/frames/papilio.htm |title=Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft) |author1=Häuser, Christoph L. |author2=de Jong, Rienk |author3=Lamas, Gerardo |author4=Robbins, Robert K. |author5=Smith, Campbell |author6=Vane-Wright, Richard I. |date=28 July 2005 |work=Entomological Data Information System |publisher=Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany |accessdate=21 June 2013 |archive-date=9 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909141739/http://www.insects-online.de/frames/papilio.htm |url-status=dead }} the Chinese windmill, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae.

Description

Byasa alcinous has a wingspan reaching about {{convert|9|-|10|cm}}. The basic colour of the wings is black or dark brown. The hindwings have long tails and a chain of red spots at the edges. The thorax and the abdomen are mainly black on the upperside and the underside, with several black spots, while the other areas are red.{{Cite web |url=http://en.butterflycorner.net/Atrophaneura-alcinous-Chinese-Windmill.1114.0.html |title=Butterfly Corner |access-date=2011-11-26 |archive-date=2013-04-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404140813/http://en.butterflycorner.net/Atrophaneura-alcinous-Chinese-Windmill.1114.0.html |url-status=dead }}

Adults are on wing from May to August in two generations.

The larvae feed on Aristolochia species including A. mandshhuriensis, A. debilis and A. manchuriensis. Subspecies has been recorded on A. shimadai, A. liukiuensis, A. kankauensis, A. elegans, A. debilis, A. kaempferii, A. onoei, A. tagala, Cocculus trilobus and Metaplexis chinensis. The species overwinters as a pupa.

Distribution

This species can be found in the Asian part of the Palaearctic realm and partially in the Indomalayan realm, from Bhutan, and eastern China to the southern Ussuri region, Korea and Japan.[http://rusinsects.com/a-alc.htm Russian Insects]

Habitat

Byasa alcinous is present in mixed broadleaved forests.

Subspecies

  • Byasa alcinous alcinous (Rothschild, 1895) (Japan)
  • Byasa alcinous bradanus (Fruhstorfer, 1908) (Japan)
  • Byasa alcinous loochooana (Rothschild, 1896) (Japan)
  • Byasa alcinous. miyakoensis (Omoto, 1960) (Japan)
  • Byasa alcinous yakushimana (Esaki & Umeno, 1929) (Japan)

See also the following where confusus may be treated as distinct valid species with mansonensis as a synonym.

  • Byasa alcinous confusus (Rothschild, 1895) (Ussuri)
  • Byasa alcinous mansonensis (Fruhstorfer, 1901) (south-central and south-eastern China, Taiwan)

See also

  • Byasa alcinous tytleri Evans, 1923 (India, "Manipur")

Gallery

File:Atrophaneura alcinous at Gunma Insect World.jpg|Dorsal view

File:Papipionidae - Atrophaneura alcinous.JPG|Ventral view

File:JakouAgeha 07c7529.jpg|Caterpillar

File:ジャコウアゲハ蛹-2.jpg|Chrysalis

References

{{Reflist}}

  • {{cite book|last1=Collins |first1=N. Mark |last2=Morris |first2=Michael G. |title=Threatened Swallowtail Butterflies of the World: The IUCN Red Data Book |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/98674#page/7/mode/1up |year=1985 |publisher=IUCN |location=Gland & Cambridge |isbn=978-2-88032-603-6 |via=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}