Papilio palinurus

Papilio palinurus has a wingspan reaching about {{convert|8|-|10|cm}}. 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.

Seitz- P. palinurus. Similar to P. buddha, the band of both wings narrower, the distal-marginal area of the forewing dusted with green, the hindwing with large green submarginal spots; the grey band of the forewing beneath is placed very close to the cell and is basally concave. The earlier stages are not known. The butterfly according to Martin flies in wooded country and is very shy and agile; it occasionally comes into gardens and is fond of feeding at the flowers of Ixora, Lantana, etc., it is also often found at damp places on the forest-paths. Hauxwell mentions that it has a habit of flying close over the water like a swallow, dipping its body in and then hurrying away. Burma to Sumatra and Nias, northwards to the Philippines. — palinurus F. (= regulus Stoll,

brama Guer., tubero Fruhst., nikagoras Fruhst.) (35 b, c). The band of the forewing is very obliquely placed, being posteriorly at most 5 mm from the end of the submedian; both it and the band of the hindwing vary in width in all localities. In most of the specimens from North Borneo the band is slightly blue: ab. solinus Fruhst. The under surface varies especially in the size of the submarginal spots of the hindwing. Burma, Tenasserim, Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo. — adventus Fruhst., from Nias, differs in both sexes principally in the larger submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath. — angustatus Stgr. Upper surface of the hindwing in male and female more broadly black between the discal band and the submarginal spots than in palinurus and adventus; beneath the pale band of the forewing is less curved and the pale marginal area of the hindwing broader than in these forms.Palawan. — daedalus Fldr. (35 c). The largest form. The green discal band of the upper surface broader than in the preceding subspecies, that of the forewing less oblique; otherwise similar to angustatus. Philippines, probably on all the islands, according to Semper almost all the year round, principally in May and October. - nymphodorus Fruhst., from Bazilan, is said to be distinguished by a broad discal band on both wings and very large green submarginal patches on the hindwing. I have before me only an abnormal specimen, from which I can form no opinion as to the constancy of the characters given.Karl Jordan in Seitz.Seitz, A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/61923 pdf] {{PD-notice}}

The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Caterpillars feed on plants of genus Euodia belonging to the Rutaceae, commonly known as the rue or citrus family.

There are several subspecies (from Burma, Borneo, Indonesia, Nias and the Philippines).

• P. p. palinurus – Burma, Malaysia Borneo
• P. p. auffenbergi Späth, 1992 – Simeulue, Indonesia{{cite journal|last=Späth|first=Manfred|title=Zwei neue Taxa der Gattung Papilio Linnaeus 1758 aus Indonesia (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae)|journal=Entomologische Zeitschrift|year=1992|volume=102|issue=16|pages=289–304}}
• 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

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.

This species can be found primarily in Southeast Asia, particularly in Burma – Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Indonesia (Simeulue, Island of Nias), Philippines (Basilan, Palawan, Balabac, Cuyo, Busuanga, and Dumaran).

Papilio palinurus lives in Asian primary forests.

It is a member of species group plalinurus

:-

• Papilio blumei Boisduval, 1836 – peacock or green swallowtail
• Papilio buddha Westwood, 1872 – Malabar banded peacock
• Papilio crino Fabricius, 1793 – common banded peacock
• Papilio palinurus Fabricius, 1787 – emerald swallowtail

File:Emerald Swallowtail Papilio palinurus scale structure diagrams.svg, using special microstructures in the wing scales.]]

{{main|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.{{Cite journal |last=Ball |first=Philip |date=2012-04-17 |title=Nature's Color Tricks |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/natureandaposs-color-tricks |journal=Scientific American |volume=306 |issue=5 |pages=74–79 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0512-74 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |pmid=22550931 |bibcode=2012SciAm.306e..74B |issn=0036-8733|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last1=Vukusic |first1=P. |last2=Sambles |first2=J. R. |last3=Lawrence |first3=C. R. |date=March 2000 |title=Colour mixing in wing scales of a butterfly |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=404 |issue=6777 |pages=457 |doi=10.1038/35006561 |pmid=10761905 |s2cid=4430587 |issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Crne |first1=Matija |last2=Sharma |first2=Vivek |last3=Blair |first3=John |last4=Park |first4=Jung Ok |last5=Summers |first5=Christopher J. |last6=Srinivasarao |first6=Mohan |date=2011-01-01 |title=Biomimicry of optical microstructures of Papilio palinurus |url=http://web.mit.edu/viveks/www/Publications_files/CrneSharma_PapilioBiomimicry_EPL.pdf |journal=EPL (Europhysics Letters) |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=14001 |doi=10.1209/0295-5075/93/14001 |bibcode=2011EL.....9314001C |s2cid=42717015 |issn=0295-5075}}

Papilio palinurus-Musée zoologique de Strasbourg.jpg|Specimen from the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg

Butterfly 2 houston.jpg|Can appear blue with certain lighting

Papilio palinurus (7).JPG|Ventral view

File:Papilio palinurus (3).JPG|Underwing

{{Reflist}}

• Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach (1998). Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the World Part I (1), Papilionidae Papilionidae I: Papilio, Subgenus Achillides, Bhutanitis, Teinopalpus. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach. Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books {{ISBN|9783931374624}}
• [http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/P/Papilio_palinurus/#Description Zipcodezoo]
• [https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id128924/ Biolib]
• [http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/papilionidae/papilioninae/papilio/index.html#palinurus Funet.fi]

{{commons and category}}

{{Wikispecies}}

• [https://insecta.pro/taxonomy/15051 Insecta pro]
• [http://eol.org/pages/130529/overview Encyclopedia of Life]
• [http://www.cambridgebutterfly.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=157 Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q593542}}

palinurus

Category:Fauna of Southeast Asia

Category:Butterflies described in 1787

Category:Butterflies of Borneo

Category:Butterflies of Indochina

Category:Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius

Category:Butterflies of Malaysia

Category:Butterflies of Indonesia

Category:Lepidoptera of the Philippines

Category:Lepidoptera of Sumatra