Papilio krishna

{{Speciesbox

| name = Krishna peacock

| image = Krishna Peacock - Alka Vaidya.jpg

| image_upright = 1.15

| image_caption =

| taxon = Papilio krishna

| authority = Moore, 1857

}}

Papilio krishna, the Krishna peacock, is a large swallowtail butterfly found in forests in China, Nepal, north east India, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Description

A large beautiful butterfly with a prominent swallowtail, the Krishna peacock has a wingspan of {{convert|120|to|130|mm|abbr=on}}
It has black upper forewings with a thin prominent yellow discal band running across the wing, parallel to the body.
The upper hindwing has a large blue discal patch which tapers off into a greenish yellow band from its lower edges inwards towards the dorsum. It has a series of red-mauve capped crescents (usually five).
The upper hindwing discal band appears on the under hindwing also as a prominent curved yellow discal band.

File:PapilioKrishna 490 2.jpg

Resembles Papilio paris generally, but differs in many points as follows: Upperside: ground colour more of a brownish black, irrorated similarly to parti with, green scales, but the scales smaller and more sparsely spread. Forewing: the postdiscal transverse band well defined, complete, formed of white scaling with only a thin sprinkling of green scales on its inner margin, generally erect or slightly curved, rarely slightly sinuous. Hindwing: upper discal patch metallic greenish blue, smaller than in P. paris, but the portions of it in interspaces 6 and 7 more extended towards the termen, the metallic golden-green band that joins the patch on its inner side to the dorsal margin more conspicuous than in P. paris; the tornal ocellus as in P. paris, but above it a subterminal series of claret-red lunules in interspaces 2, 3, 4 and 5, followed by a series of ochraceous-red obscure terminal narrow lunules in the interspaces, the cilia on the outer margin of each conspicuously white. Underside: forewing as in P. paris but an erect ochraceous-white postdiscal band as on the upperside limits; the series of internervular pale streaks on the outer half of the wing. Hindwing: a well-defined discal ochraceous-white band formed of a series of somewhat lunular marks in the interspaces, these increase in width anteriorly; a subterminal series of claret-red lunules traversed by violet scaling on the inner side as in P. paris, but much broader and more prominent; finally a terminal series of ochraceous-yellow lunular marks in the interspaces; the cilia that border each lunule white. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in P. paris.{{cite book |last1=Bingham |first1=C.T. |authorlink=Charles Thomas Bingham |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma |url=https://archive.org/details/butterflies02bingiala |volume=II |edition=1st |publisher= Taylor and Francis, Ltd. |location=London |year=1907 }}

Image:Papiliokrishnathawgawapr.jpg

Range

Sikkim, Bhutan, Darjeeling, Nagaland, Manipur, Myanmar and all around the Himalayas.

Subspecies

Papilio krishna ssp. krishna (Indian, Bhutanese and Nepalese Himalayas)
Papilio krishna ssp. manipuri (Manipur, India)
Papilio krishna ssp. thawgawa (N. Myanmar and Yunnan)
Papilio krishna ssp. charlesi (Sichuan)
Papilio krishna ssp. mayumiae (N. Vietnam)

Status

The IUCN Red Data Book records the status of the Krishna peacock as uncommon. It is not known to be threatened, though like all peacocks, it is highly sought in trade.{{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}}

Habitat

Generally found in the forests of the Himalayas where it flies from {{convert|3000|to|9000|ft|m}}.

Food plants

The following food plants from family Rutaceae have been recorded:

Evodia fraxinifolia
Citrus species
Zanthoxylum species

Taxonomy

It is a member of the species group paris