Papilio nireus

Green-banded swallowtail
Papilio nireus subsp. lyaeus
P. n. subsp. pseudonireus from Eritrea Mounted specimens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. nireus
Binomial name
Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758 [1]
Synonyms
Papilio erinus Gray, [1853] Papilio nireus f. nora Strand, 1915 Papilio nireus f. dimidiatus Le Cerf, 1924 Papilio nireoides Braun, 1932 Papilio nireus nireus ab. bedoci Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. punctata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. seeldrayersi Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. pierardi Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus ab. falcata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus f. houzeaui Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus f. tenuivittata Dufrane, 1946 Papilio nireus nireus var. xerophila Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus micronireus Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus ab. lyaeoides Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus nireus f. cedeae Sala, 1992 Papilio lyaeus Doubleday, 1845 Papilio lyaeus aelyus Suffert, 1904 Papilio mantitheus Ehrmann, 1920 Papilio nireus-lyaeus f. callistria Le Cerf, 1927 Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. pseudonireoides Storace, 1952 Papilio donaldsoni Sharpe, 1896 Papilio nireus var. abyssinica Cannaviello, 1900 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. pseudolyaeus Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. anticemaculata Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus ab. minor Storace, 1952 Papilio nireus pseudonireus f. semivittata Storace, 1952

The Green-banded swallowtail, Narrow-banded green swallowtail,^[2] or African blue-banded swallowtail (Papilio nireus) is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Subsaharan Africa.

The wingspan is 75–90 millimetres (3.0–3.5 in) in males and 85–95 mm (3.3–3.7 in) in females. Flies year-round, peaks from November to February.^[3]

The larvae feed on Calodendrum capense, Teclea spp., Vepris spp., and Citrus spp.^[1]

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically.^[1]

• P. n. aristophontes Oberthür, 1897 – (Comoro Is. (Grand Comore))
• P. n. lyaeus Doubleday, 1845 – Narrowly green-banded swallowtail (Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland)
• P. n. nireus Linnaeus, 1758 – (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, western Tanzania, Zambia)
• P. n. pseudonireus C. & R. Felder, 1865 – (northern Kenya, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea)
• P. n. wilsoni Rothschild, 1926 – (Ethiopia)

Taxonomy

Papilio nireus belongs to a clade called the nireus species-group with 13 members. The pattern is black with green bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus. The clade members are:

• Papilio aristophontes Oberthür, 1897
• Papilio nireus Linnaeus, 1758
• Papilio charopus Westwood, 1843
• Papilio chrapkowskii Suffert, 1904
• Papilio chrapkowskoides Storace, 1952
• Papilio desmondi van Someren, 1939
• Papilio hornimani Distant, 1879
• Papilio interjectana Vane-Wright, 1995
• Papilio sosia Rothschild & Jordan, 1903
• Papilio thuraui Karsch, 1900
• Papilio ufipa Carcasson, 1961
• Papilio wilsoni Rothschild, 1926

References

1. Papilio nireus, funet.fi
2. Narrow-banded green swallowtail, Learn about Butterflies
3. Woodhall, S. (2005) Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, p.352

• Carcasson, R.H. (1960) The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society 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)
• Hancock, David Lawrence. (1984) The Princeps nireus group of swallowtails (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae): systematics, phylogeny and biogeography. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9(12):181-215.

External links

• Linnean collections Photographs of the holotype.