''Graphium policenes'', the common swordtail or small striped swordtail, 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 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 ...

(swallowtails). It is found in tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

.''Graphium''
funet.fi The

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 ...

is 55–60 mm in males and 60–65 mm in females. The species has continuous broods during warmer months. The

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e feed on '' Uvaria caffra'', '' Artabotrys monteiroae'', ''

Uvaria bukobensis ''Uvaria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. The generic name ''Uvaria'' is derived from the Latin ''uva'', 'grape', because the fruit of some species in the genus resemble grapes. Species are distributed throughout the Old ...

'', '' Uvara chamae'', '' Landolphia buchannani'', '' Landolphia ugandensis'', ''

Polyalthia ''Polyalthia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Annonaceae. There are approximately 90 species distributed from Africa to Asia and the Pacific.

'' species, ''

Annona reticulata ''Annona reticulata'' is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae. It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: ''Annona cherim ...

'', ''Annona senegalensis'', ''Annona squamosa'', and ''Monanthotaxis caffra''.

Subspecies

*''Graphium policenes policenes'' (Sub-Saharan Africa) *''Graphium policenes telloi'' Hecq, 1999 (Nigeria, northern Cameroon, Central African Republic, southern Sudan)

Gallery

File:Graphium policenes.JPG, Dorsal view, from ''Papillions exotiques'' (1779) File:Graphium policenes1.JPG, Ventral view Papilionidae - Graphium policenes.JPG, Mounted specimen, at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano Turquoise-spotted swallowtails (Graphium policenes) puddling.jpg, Puddling
Bobiri Forest, Ghana

Similar species

It is very similar to ''Graphium policenoides'' and ''Graphium liponesco'' It is the nominal member of the ''policenes'' -clade (''policenes'', ''Graphium liponesco'', ''Graphium biokoensis'', ''Graphium policenoides'', ''Graphium porthaon''.)

Taxonomy

Aurivillius in Seitz places ''policenes'' (policenoides), ''Graphium policenoides, nigrescens'' ,''Graphium polistratus, sisenna'' (''polistratus''), ''Graphium polistratus, polistratus'', ''Graphium junodi, junodi'', ''Graphium porthaon, porthaon'' and ''Graphium colonna, collona'' in the Policenes Group Subgroup 2 circumscribed Hindwing with a long, narrow tail of uniform width at vein 4. Frons black with white lateral margins. Wings above with green or greenish white markings. Cell of the forewing with 5 — 6 transverse bands or spots. Both wings with submarginal spots. Hindwing beneath with a so-called ornamental band, formed of red spots. Besides the markings already mentioned the forewing has a spot at the base of cellules 1 a and 1 b, an oblique transverse streak in the basal part of these cellules and 8 discal spots, one each in cellules 1 a — 6 and 8; the hindwing has a narrow transverse band at the base, a narrow median band which consists only of three spots (in the cell and in cellules 2 and 7) and usually also 7 discal spots in cellules 1 c -7, of 'which, however, that in 1 c is red. The larva has four pairs of spines, one pair each on the 1., 2., 3. and penultimate segments. The pupa is very angularly widened at the beginning of the abdomen and has a long hump on the mesothorax. Subgroup 2.The apical fourth of the cell of the hindwing above unicolorous black without light spot. The cell of the forewing with a light spot or dot at the costal margin close before the apex. Aurivillius, [P.O.]C. 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.External images
from Royal Museum of Central Africa.

References

*Carcasson, R.H. 1960 The Papilionidae, Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae). ''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society'
pdf
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) Graphium (butterfly), policenes Butterflies of Africa Butterflies described in 1775 Taxa named by Pieter Cramer {{papilionidae-stub