Papilio phorcas

{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Apple-green swallowtail

| status =

| image = Green-banded swallowtail (Papilio phorcas ruscoei).jpg

| image_caption =

| image2 = Green-banded swallowtail (Papilio phorcas ruscoei) underside.jpg

| image2_caption = both Kakamega Forest, Kenya

| taxon = Papilio phorcas

| authority = Cramer, [1775] Cramer, P. [1775-1776]. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen Asia, Africa en America. Amsteldam & Utrecht. 1: [vi], xxx, 16 pp., 155 pp.[http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/papilionidae/papilioninae/papilio/index.html Papilio], Site of Markku Savela

| synonyms ={{collapsible list|bullets = true

|Princeps phorcas

|Papilio doreus Fabricius, 1775

|Papilio thersander Fabricius, 1793

|Papilio phorcas f. media Le Cerf, 1924

|Papilio nandina Rothschild & Jordan, 1901

|Papilio phorcas tippelskirchi Suffert, 1904

|Papilio phorcas f. thersandroides Aurivillius, 1908

|Papilio phorcas bardamu f. velledae Canu, 1994

|Papilio phorcas caspor Suffert, 1904

|Papilio phorcas ab. kassaiensis Strand, 1916

|Papilio phorcas f. bergeri Storace, 1955

|Papilio phorcas f. xera Storace, 1955

|Papilio phorcas f. viridissima Basquin & Turlin, 1986

|Papilio phorcas congoanus f. ponzonii Sala, 1992

|Papilio phorcas leopoldi Suffert, 1904

|Papilio phorcas ab. phorcadius Strand, 1911

|Papilio phorcas f. ruscoei Krüger, 1928

|Papilio phorcas f. mutans Le Cerf, 1924

|Papilio phorcas f. furcula Bryk, 1927

|Papilio phorcas f. inexpectata Bryk, 1927

|Papilio phorcas pseudothersander Krüger, 1937

|Papilio phorcas f. polyxena Stoneham, 1951

|Papilio phorcas f. bayoni Storace, 1955

|Papilio phorcas nilotica Storace, 1961

|Papilio phorcas tenuifasciatus f. meto Kielland, 1990

}}

}}

Papilio phorcas, the apple-green swallowtail or green-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.

The larvae feed on Teclea nobilis, Teclea simplicifolia, Macrostylis villosa, Vepris, Calodendrum, Clausena, Citrus, Fagara and Toddalia species.{{Cite web |url=http://atbutterflies.com/downloads/papilionidae_papilionini.doc |title=Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Papilionini |access-date=2012-05-09 |archive-date=2014-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222060901/http://atbutterflies.com/downloads/papilionidae_papilionini.doc |url-status=dead }}

Description

A tailed species. The ground colour is black, with green markings.

File:Papilio phorcas female dorsal.jpg|Female dorsal view

File:Papilio phorcas female ventral.jpg|Same, ventral

File:Papilio phorcas male dorsal.jpg|Male, dorsal

File:Papilio phorcas male ventral.jpg|Same, ventral

File:Papilio phorcas male dorsal, green.jpg|More green looking male

Taxonomy

Papilio phorcas is a member of the dardanus species group. The members of the clade are:

Subspecies

  • P. p. phorcas (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria)
  • P. p. ansorgei Rothschild, 1896.Rothschild, W. 1896. New Lepidoptera. Novitates Zoologicae 3: 322-328. (Kenya (highland forest east of the Rift Valley))
  • P. p. congoanus Rothschild, 1896 (Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, northern Angola, Congo Republic, western Uganda, western Tanzania, northern Zambia)
  • P. p. nyikanus Rothschild & Jordan, 1903 Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. 1903. Some new African Papilios. Novitates Zoologicae 10: 488-490. (highland forest of north-eastern Zambia, Malawi and eastern Tanzania)
  • P. p. ruscoei Krüger, 1928 Bryk. F. & Krüger, E.? 1927 [1928] Zool. Anz. 74:77. (in Lepindex) (eastern Uganda, Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))
  • P. p. sudanicola Storace, 1965 Storace, L., 1965 J. E. Afr. Nat. Hist. Soc. Nat. Mus. 25 (1): 71

[https://archive.org/details/journalofea2511965110east/page/71/mode/1up?view=theater Full text] (southern Sudan)

  • P. p. tenuifasciatus Kielland, 1990Kielland, 1990 Butterflies of Tanzania. Hill House, Melbourne and London: 1-363 (northern Tanzania, Kenya)
  • P. p. bardamu Canu, 1994 Canu, J.G. 1994. Souvenirs entomologiques d'Afrique et des iles voisines (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera). Lambillionea 94 (3) (Tome I): 311-320 (Bioko Island)

Biogeographic realm

References

{{Reflist}}

  • Carcasson, R.H. 1960 "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society [https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_101755_theswallowtailbutterfliesofeas1960 pdf] Key to East Africa members of the species group, diagnostic and other notes and figures. (Permission to host granted by The East Africa Natural History Society)
  • {{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}}
  • Storace, L.,1955 Su alcune Papilionidae Africane, con descrizioni di nuove forme (Lepidoptera, Diurna). Memorie della Societa Entomologica Italiana 33:120-137.