''Baronia brevicornis'', commonly known as the short-horned baronia, is a species of

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 ...

in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus ''Baronia'' and is placed in a subfamily of its own, the Baroniinae, a sister group of the remainder of the swallowtail butterflies. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to a very small area of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where the distribution is patchy and restricted. The genus is named after Oscar Theodor Baron who collected the first specimen in the Sierra Madre region of Mexico. The species was then described by Salvin. Morphological characteristics include an abdominal scent organ in females. ''Baronia'' is unique among swallowtail butterflies or their relatives in having an ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

'' species, '' Vachellia campeachiana'' (synonym ''Acacia cochliacantha'', family

Leguminosae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

) as its larval food plant.

Taxonomy

''Baronia brevicornis'' is of particular importance due to its relict nature and uncertain relationship to other subfamilies such as the Parnassiinae. It is now considered to represent the monotypic subfamily Baroniinae. The butterfly was considered as the most primitive extant papilionid taxon and shares some features with the fossil genus '' Praepapilio'', and a comprehensive 2018 molecular phylogeny suggests that they are the sister group of the remainder of the Papilionidae.

Subspecies

* ''B. b. brevicornis'' * ''B. b. rufodiscalis''

References

Illustrated works: *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. All species and subspecies are included, also most of the forms. Several females are shown the first time in colour. *Lewis, H. L., 1974 ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 23, figure 6, female.

External links

Pteron
Undersides on right.
Images
Photographs of type specimens including types of subspecies Endemic Lepidoptera of Mexico Taxa named by Osbert Salvin Monotypic butterfly genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa described in 1893 {{Lepidoptera-stub