Papilio rex

The male is significantly larger than the female, but the patterns of the two sexes are similar. The male reaches a wingspan of 17 cm[1]. On the obverse, the wings are black or dark brown. The forewings are quite elongated, they are orange at the base and have white macules. The hindwings are rounded, white or cream in the basal area and crossed by black veins while the rest of the wing is studded with white macules. The underside is similar but the wings are slightly lighter and the orange part of the forewings is more extensive. The thorax and head are black and dotted with white macules, the abdomen is black above and white below and on the sides.

This species mimics the appearance of Tirumala formosa and more precisely of Tirumala formosa morgeni, a species of poisonous butterfly[

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

• Papilio dardanus Brown, 1776
• Papilio constantinus Ward, 1871
• Papilio delalandei Godart, [1824]
• Papilio phorcas Cramer, [1775]
• Papilio rex Oberthür, 1886

• Papilio rex rex (Kenya (east of the Rift Valley), north-eastern Tanzania, central Tanzania)
• Papilio rex mimeticus Rothschild, 1897Rothschild, W., 1897 On a new species of Papilio from Uganda Entomologist 30 165 [https://archive.org/details/entomologist301897brit/page/165/mode/1up?view=theater Full text] (Congo Republic, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, north-western Tanzania, western Kenya)
• Papilio rex franciscae Carpenter, 1928 (southern Sudan, south-western Ethiopia)Carpenter, 1928. Two collections of butterflies from the S.E. corner of the Sudan. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 76: 25-54.
• Papilio rex alinderi Bryk, 1928Bryk, F. 1928. Ueber den Mimetismus der afrikanischen Papilio-Arten. Societas Entomologia 43: 13-16. (Kenya (highlands west of the Rift Valley))
• Papilio rex schultzei Aurivillius, 1904Aurivillius, Per Olof Christopher, 1904 Insekten-Börse 21 (48): 363 [https://archive.org/details/insektenborse211904leip/page/363/mode/1up?view=theater Full text] (eastern Nigeria, highlands of Cameroon)
• Papilio rex abyssinicana Vane-Wright, 1995Ackery, P.R., Smith, C.R., Vane-Wright, R.I. 1995. Carcasson's African Butterflies: An annotated Catalogue of the Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea of the Afrotropical Region. British Museum (Natural History), London: i-xi, 1-803. ISBN 978-0-643-05561-2 (highlands of south-eastern Ethiopia)
• Papilio rex regulana Vane-Wright, 1995 (Kenya (highlands east of the Rift Valley))

Afrotropical realm

{{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}}

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• [http://en.butterflycorner.net/Papilio-rex-Regal-Swallowtail.1358.0.html Butterfly Corner] Images from Naturhistorisches Museum Wien

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Category:Butterflies described in 1886

rex

Category:Butterflies of Africa

Category:Taxa named by Charles Oberthür

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