Atrophaneura pandiyana, the Malabar rose or pandiyana's maculaturoviy machaon with white stripes , is a swallowtail butterfly belonging to the genus ''Pachliopta'', the roses or red-bodied swallowtails. It is an important

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 ...

butterfly of

south India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

Description

This was earlier considered a race of '' Pachliopta jophon'' found in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Race ''pandiyanus'', Moore. "Though closely allied to ''A. jophon'' gray, this species is constantly different in pattern. The white colour of the forewings is much more extended, especially in the apical region, but also more shaded with black scales; the internervular black streaks between the median nervures (veins 4-6) are much longer, the white linear markings, in the cell reach the discocellular veinlets. On the hindwing the last discal white spot reaches mostly to the submedian nervure (vein 1), the anterior one is very large in the male, small or divided into two spots, or obliterated in the female...". (

Rothschild Rothschild () is a name derived from the German ''zum rothen Schild'' (with the old spelling "th"), meaning "to the red shield", in reference to the houses where these family members lived or had lived. At the time, houses were designated by signs ...

, quoted in Bingham)

Similar species

It resembles the common rose (''Pachliopta aristolochiae'') from which it can be differentiated by the much larger white patch on its hindwings. File:Pachliopta Pandiyana and Aristolochiae.png

Range

Southern India. The butterfly does not associate much with the common rose, which it resembles. On the western slopes of the Nilgiris and elsewhere on the Western Ghats, the Malabar rose entirely displaces that most abundant butterfly.

Status

It is uncommon, but not considered to be threatened as a species. The species is locally common in the Western Ghats.

Taxonomy

A related species, ''Pachliopta jophon'', once considered

conspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...

, flies in

. No separate subspecies have been described.

Habitat

This butterfly is confined to the wet jungles of southern India and the Western Ghats, between .

Habits

The flight of this butterfly resembles that of the common rose (''Pachliopta aristolochiae''). Early in the morning till about 10 am, it keeps low and feeds from flowers, usually those of the ''Lantana''. Later in the day it flies high and is difficult to capture.

Life cycle

Appears to be single-brooded and is most common in September and October.

Food plants

The larval food plant is '' Thottea siliquosa'' (

Aristolochiaceae The Aristolochiaceae () are a family, the birthwort family, of flowering plants with seven genera and about 400 known species belonging to the order Piperales. The type genus is '' Aristolochia'' L. Description They are mostly perennial, her ...

Cited references

References

* * * * * *

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1310879 Pachliopta Atrophaneura Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1881 Taxa named by Frederic Moore