''Graphium levassori'', the yellow lady, is a species of

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 ...

in 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

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to the Comoros.Afrotropical Butterflies: File C – Papilionidae - Tribe Leptocercini
/ref>

Description

The greater part of the wings above is yellowish white, but the following parts are black: the costal margin of the forewing as far as the cell and on the hindwing the apex, which is adorned with two light spots in cellules 7 and 8, and a marginal line, only 1 mm broad between vein 5 and the hinder angle, which is somewhat widened at the apical angle and there encloses two light spots. — Great Comoro.Aurivillius, .O.. 1908-1924. In: Seitz, A. ''Die Großschmetterlinge der Erde'' Band 13: Abt. 2, ''Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die afrikanischen Tagfalter'', 1925, 613 Seiten, 80 Tafeln (The Macrolepidoptera of the World 13).Alfred Kernen Verlag, Stuttgart.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''leonidas''-group of closely species (''

Graphium leonidas ''Graphium leonidas'', the veined swordtail, veined swallowtail or common graphium, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa.Graphium cyrnus ''Graphium cyrnus'' is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. The top of the wings consist of black with many greenish-yellow dots, with the underside being roughly the same but instead of black, it is a reddish-brown. It is found on Madagasc ...

'').

References

Sources

IUCN Red List of all current Threatened Species
levassori Endemic fauna of the Comoros Butterflies of Africa Endangered animals Endangered biota of Africa Butterflies described in 1890 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Lepidoptera of the Comoros Taxa named by Charles Oberthür {{papilionidae-stub