''Papilio ophidicephalus'', the emperor swallowtail, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of the family

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful butterflies in the family Papilionidae, and include over 550 species. Though the majority are tropical, members of the family inhabit every continent except Antarctica. The family includes the larges ...

. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan ...

is 90–110 mm in males and 100–120 mm in females. It has two broods, one from August to December and the second from January to April. The larvae feed on ''

Clausena inqequalis ''Clausena'' is a genus of flowering plants in the citrus family, Rutaceae. It was first defined by the Dutch botanist Nicolaas Laurens Burman in 1768. It is distributed in Africa, southern Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.

'', ''

Calodendrum capense ''Calodendrum capense'', the Cape chestnut, is an African tree which was first studied at The Cape in South Africa and cultivated widely for its prolific flower display. The tree obtained the common name of "Cape chestnut" because explorer Wil ...

'', ''

Citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is nati ...

'' species, ''

Clausena anisata :''Should not be confused with syzygium anisatum, a tree native to eastern Australian rainforests, used as a culinary herb.'' ''Clausena anisata'' ( Willd.) Hook.f. ex Benth. is a deciduous shrub or small tree, belonging to the Rutaceae or Citr ...

'', '' Zanthoxylum capense'' and other ''

Zanthoxylum ''Zanthoxylum'' is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae i ...

'' species.

Taxonomy

''Papilio ophidicephalus'' is a member of the ''menestheus''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The members of the clade are: *''

Papilio menestheus ''Papilio menestheus'', the western emperor swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus '' Papilio'' that is found in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon and Eq ...

'' Drury, 1773 *''

Papilio lormieri ''Papilio lormieri'', the central emperor swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus '' Papilio'' that is found in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. The larvae feed on ...

'' Distant, 1874 *''Papilio ophidicephalus'' Oberthür, 1878

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically: *''P. o. ayresi'' van Son, 1939 (South Africa, Eswatini) *''P. o. chirinda'' van Son, 1939 (west-central Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe) *''P. o. cottrelli'' van Son, 1966 (south-central Zambia) *''P. o. entabeni'' van Son, 1939 (South Africa: Limpopo Province) *''P. o. mkuwadzi'' Gifford, 1961 (south-western Tanzania, northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia) *''P. o. niassicola'' Storace, 1955 (southern and central Malawi) *''P. o. ophidicephalus'' Oberthür, 1878 (eastern Kenya, Tanzania, north-eastern Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo) *''P. o. phalusco'' Suffert, 1904 Suffert, F. 1904 ''Dt. Ent. Z. Iris'' 17 (1): 103;
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(South Africa) *''P. o. transvaalensis'' van Son, 1939 (South Africa: Limpopo Province) *''P. o. zuluensis'' van Son, 1939 (South Africa: KwaZulu-Natal to the north-east)

References

*Carcasson, R.H., 1960, "The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)". ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'
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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) * *Storace, L.,1955 Su alcune Papilionidae Africane, con descrizioni di nuove forme (Lepidoptera, Diurna). ''Memorie della Societa Entomologica Italiana'' 33:120-137.

External links

Images from

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna (german: Naturhistorisches Museum Wien) is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the most important natural history museums worldwide. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museum ...

Butterflies described in 1878 ophidicephalus Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Charles Oberthür {{Papilionidae-stub