Eurytides philolaus, the dark zebra swallowtail or dark kite-swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found from southern Texas to northern South America.[2]

Eurytides philolaus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Papilionidae
Genus: Eurytides
Species:
E. philolaus
Binomial name
Eurytides philolaus
(Boisduval, 1836)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio philolaus Boisduval, 1836
  • Graphium philolaus
  • Protographium philolaus
  • Neographium philolaus
  • Papilio philolaus ajax Eimer, 1889 (preocc. Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Papilio philolaus nigrescens Eimer, 1889
  • Papilio philolaus f. niger Eimer, 1889
  • Papilio philolaus ab. felicis Fruhstorfer, 1904
  • Eurytides philolaus f. vazquezae Beutelspacher, 1976
  • Papilio xanticles Bates, 1863
  • Papilio plaesiolaus Staudinger, 1884
  • Papilio xanticles var. phileonra Haase, 1892
  • Papilio xanticles f. scheba Rothschild & Jordan, 1906
  • Eurytides xanticles
  • Neographium xanticles

The wingspan is 90–95 mm.

"Antenna black; the 7. pale green band of the forewing only represented by a spot; hindwing with 2 red spots posteriorly; on the under surface the red line of the hindwing edged with black at both sides, undulate anteriorly. Scent-scales of the male short, broad, irregular, produced in a number of filaments. The female is in 2 forms: female f. philolaus Boisd. similar to the male, the underside paler, female f. niger Eimer (nigrescens Eimer; felicis Fruhst.) the pale green bands of the membrane of the wings scaled with black, the wings therefore black with slight traces of the bands."[3]

Biology

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The butterfly is found in low situations, often resting in crowds on the sand at the edge of rivers. The larvae feed on Annonaceae species.

Subspecies

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There are two recognised subspecies:

  • Eurytides philolaus philolaus (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, southern Texas) [4]
  • Eurytides philolaus xanticles (Bates, 1863) (Panama, northern Colombia, northern Venezuela)[5]

References

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  1. ^ Protographium at funet
  2. ^ Butterflies and Moths of North America
  3. ^ Jordan, K. , in Seitz, A. ( 1907) . The Macrolepidoptera of the World. 5: The Macrolepidoptera of the American faunistic region. Papilionidae 1-45
  4. ^ Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World ISBN 0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 2
  5. ^ Lewis, H. L., 1974 Butterflies of the World ISBN 0-245-52097-X Page 24, figure 7

Further reading

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  • Edwin Möhn, 2002 Schmetterlinge der Erde, Butterflies of the world Part XIIII (14), Papilionidae VIII: Baronia, Euryades, Protographium, Neographium, Eurytides. Edited by Erich Bauer and Thomas Frankenbach Keltern: Goecke & Evers; Canterbury: Hillside Books. ISBN 978-3-931374-87-7 All species and subspecies are included, also most of the forms. Several females are shown the first time in colour.