''Papilio palinurus'', the emerald swallowtail, emerald peacock, or green-banded peacock, is a butterfly of the genus ''

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail ('' Papilio machaon'') ...

'' of the family

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 ...

. It is native to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, but is regularly kept in

butterfly house A butterfly house, conservatory, or lepidopterarium is a facility which is specifically intended for the breeding and display of butterflies with an emphasis on education. They may also be used to support local populations through butterfly rel ...

s around the world.

Description

''Papilio palinurus'' has a

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

reaching about . The dorsal sides of the wings are covered by a powder of green scales and the background vary from dark greenish to black, with broad bright emerald green metallic bands. The undersides are black with orange, white and blue spots along the edges of hindwings, that show extended tails at the end. Seitz- P. palinurus. Similar to '' P. buddha'', the band of both wings narrower, the distal-marginal area of the forewing dusted with green, the hindwing with large green submarginal spots; the grey band of the forewing beneath is placed very close to the cell and is basally concave. The earlier stages are not known. The butterfly according to Martin flies in wooded country and is very shy and agile; it occasionally comes into gardens and is fond of feeding at the flowers of ''

Ixora ''Ixora'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is the only genus in the tribe ''Ixoreae''. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 544 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas ...

'', ''

Lantana ''Lantana'' () is a genus of about 150 species of perennial plant, perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropics, tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in num ...

'', etc., it is also often found at damp places on the forest-paths. Hauxwell mentions that it has a habit of flying close over the water like a swallow, dipping its body in and then hurrying away. Burma to Sumatra and Nias, northwards to the Philippines. — ''palinurus'' F. (= ''regulus'' Stoll, ''brama'' Guer., ''tubero'' Fruhst., ''nikagoras'' Fruhst.) (35 b, c). The band of the forewing is very obliquely placed, being posteriorly at most 5 mm from the end of the submedian; both it and the band of the hindwing vary in width in all localities. In most of the specimens from North Borneo the band is slightly blue: ab. ''solinus'' Fruhst. The under surface varies especially in the size of the submarginal spots of the hindwing. Burma, Tenasserim, Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo. — ''adventus'' Fruhst., from Nias, differs in both sexes principally in the larger submarginal spots of the hindwing beneath. — ''angustatus'' Stgr. Upper surface of the hindwing in male and female more broadly black between the discal band and the submarginal spots than in ''palinurus'' and adventus; beneath the pale band of the forewing is less curved and the pale marginal area of the hindwing broader than in these forms.Palawan. — ''daedalus'' Fldr. (35 c). The largest form. The green discal band of the upper surface broader than in the preceding subspecies, that of the forewing less oblique; otherwise similar to ''angustatus''. Philippines, probably on all the islands, according to Semper almost all the year round, principally in May and October. - ''nymphodorus'' Fruhst., from Bazilan, is said to be distinguished by a broad discal band on both wings and very large green submarginal patches on the hindwing. I have before me only an abnormal specimen, from which I can form no opinion as to the constancy of the characters given. Karl Jordan in Seitz.

Biology

The flight of these butterflies is swift and quite fast. Caterpillars feed on plants of genus '' Euodia'' belonging to the

Rutaceae The Rutaceae () is a family (biology), family, commonly known as the rueRUTACEAE
in Bo ...

, commonly known as the

rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for i ...

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

family.

Subspecies

There are several

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

(from

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 ...

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Nias Nias (, Nias: ''Tanö Niha'') is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the southeast and the small ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

). * ''P. p. palinurus'' – Burma,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Borneo * ''P. p. auffenbergi'' Späth, 1992 –

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1,754 square kilometre (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

, Indonesia * ''P. p. nymphodorus'' (Fruhstorfer) – Island of

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan (; ; ; ), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Basilan Island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands of the Sulu Archipelago ...

* ''P. p. adventus'' (Fruhstorfer) – Island of

* ''P. p. daedalus'' (C. & R. Felder, 1861) – Philippines * ''P. p. angustatus'' (Staudinger, 1888) – Island of Palawan, Philippines

Etymology

The genus name ''

'' comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''papilio'' meaning

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 ...

. The species name ''palinurus'' derives from

Palinurus Palinurus (''Palinūrus''), in Roman mythology and especially Virgil's ''Aeneid'', is the coxswain of Aeneas' ship. Later authors used him as a general type of navigator or guide. Palinurus is an example of human sacrifice; his life is the price ...

, the name of the pilot of

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

's boat in

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

''.

Distribution

This species can be found primarily in Southeast Asia, particularly in

–

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 ...

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. ...

(

, Island of

(

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Balabac Balabac Island is the southernmost island of Palawan province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the Philippines, some north of Sabah, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait. Administratively, the island forms the main part of th ...

, Cuyo, Busuanga, and

Dumaran Dumaran, officially the Municipality of Dumaran (), is a municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by natio ...

Habitat

''Papilio palinurus'' lives in Asian primary forests.

Taxonomy

It is a member of species group ''plalinurus'' :- *'' Papilio blumei'' Boisduval, 1836 – peacock or green swallowtail *'' Papilio buddha'' Westwood, 1872 – Malabar banded peacock *'' Papilio crino'' Fabricius, 1793 – common banded peacock *''Papilio palinurus'' Fabricius, 1787 – emerald swallowtail

Green by structural coloration

Emerald Swallowtail Papilio palinurus scale structure diagrams

The iridescent green sheen of the bands of this butterfly is not produced by pigments, but is

structural coloration Structural coloration in animals, and a few plants, is the production of colour by microscopically structured surfaces fine enough to interfere with visible light instead of Biological pigment, pigments, although some structural coloration occu ...

produced by the microstructure of the wing scales. They refract the light and give rise to blue and yellow visible reflections, producing the perception of green color when additively mixed.

Gallery

Papilio palinurus-Musée zoologique de Strasbourg.jpg, Specimen from the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg Butterfly 2 houston.jpg, Can appear blue with certain lighting Papilio palinurus (7).JPG, Ventral view File:Papilio palinurus (3).JPG, Underwing

References

External links

Insecta pro

Encyclopedia of Life

Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory
{{Taxonbar, from=Q593542

palinurus Palinurus (''Palinūrus''), in Roman mythology and especially Virgil's ''Aeneid'', is the coxswain of Aeneas' ship. Later authors used him as a general type of navigator or guide. Palinurus is an example of human sacrifice; his life is the price ...

Fauna of Southeast Asia Butterflies described in 1787 Butterflies of Borneo Butterflies of Indochina Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Indonesia Lepidoptera of the Philippines Lepidoptera of Sumatra