''Atrophaneura sycorax'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

from the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Papilionidae Swallowtail butterflies are large, colorful Butterfly, 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 includ ...

that is found from southern

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

, and in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

and western

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. The wingspan is 130–140 mm. The wings are black. There is a wide dull-white marking on each of the hindwings. The body is completely covered in yellow hair. Females can be black or dark brown. The wing veins are bordered in white.

Description in Seitz

P. sycorax Gr.-Sm. (= egertoni Dist.) (17 a, b). Head and collar white; abdomen above bluish grey with a row of black dots at each side, beneath yellow. Upper surface of the male velvety black, of the female much paler and more metallic; hindwing from near the apex of the cell to the black marginal band blue-grey, with a row of black discal spots; beneath this area is much lighter and extends to the margin, the posterior black marginal spots being separated from one another and from the margin. — West and East Sumatra and Malay Peninsula, in hilly country. Karl Jordan in Seitz (page 29) Seitz , A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafel
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Biology

The butterfly flies high and quickly, and is especially often taken at flowering trees in the woods The larvae feed on '' Aristolochia'' species: '' A. cathcartii'', '' A. coadunata'', '' A. singalangensis'' and '' Thottea'' species.

Subspecies

*''Atrophaneura sycorax sycorax'' (Sumatra) *''Atrophaneura sycorax egertoni'' (Distant, 1886) (southern Burma to Peninsular Malaya) *''Atrophaneura sycorax pariwononis'' Tsukada & Nishiyama (western Java)

References

External links

External images
of

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

Butterflies described in 1885 Atrophaneura Butterflies of Java Butterflies of Malaysia Taxa named by Henley Grose-Smith Fauna of Sumatra {{Papilionidae-stub