''Papilio weymeri'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

swallowtail butterfly 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 larg ...

in the

Papilioninae Papilioninae is a subfamily of the butterfly Family (biology), family Papilionidae. Papilioninae are Swallowtail butterfly, swallowtail butterflies and are found worldwide, but most species are distributed in the Tropics, tropics and warmer regio ...

subfamily that 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 ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

where it is found on

Los Negros Los Negros ('The Black Ones') was a criminal organization that was once the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and after a switch of alliances, became the armed wing of the Sinaloa splinter gang, the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel. In 2010 it went indepe ...

and

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

Description

The species' males are long and are black in colour while females are and are brownish-black coloured. Both sexes have cream fringe spots but only females have orange-red eyespot and dark coloured scales. Technical description In the male the wings are black on the obverse, the forewings bear a series of white postdiscal macules and the hindwings a large white macule whose shape varies depending on the individual. On the reverse the wings are dark brown, the forewings bear a series of white postdiscal macules, the hindwings bear a row of white macules, a few blue lunulae and an orange eyespot in the anal angle. In the female the wings are dark brown on the obverse, the forewings have a lighter, rather fuzzy band and submarginal yellow macules. The hindwings bear yellow submarginal lunules, large iridescent blue postdiscal macules and an orange eyespot in the anal angle. The reverse is similar but the blue macules are less large and there is an orange macule on the upper edge of the wing Wilhelm Niepelt, ''Lepidoptera Niepeltiana : Abbildungen und Beschreibungen neuer und wenig bekannter Lepidoptera'', Leipzig ermany: Urban & Co., 1914

Taxonomy

''Papilio weymeri'' is a member of the ''aegeus''

species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

. The

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

members are *''

Papilio aegeus ''Papilio aegeus'', the orchard swallowtail butterfly or large citrus butterfly is a species of butterfly from the family (biology), family Papilionidae, that is found in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. The larvae of this species are som ...

'' Donovan, 1805 *'' Papilio bridgei'' Mathew, 1886 ** ? '' Papilio erskinei'' Mathew, 1886 *''

Papilio gambrisius ''Papilio gambrisius'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Serang, Moluccas, Ambon Island, Seram and Buru. Description In Seitz (who also lists the forma) it is described "Perhaps not specifically di ...

'' Cramer, 777/small> *'' Papilio inopinatus'' Butler, 1883 *'' Papilio ptolychus'' Godman & Salvin, 1888 *''

Papilio tydeus ''Papilio tydeus'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in the Maluku Islands, Moluccas (Batchian and Gilolo). Description Differentiated from all the forms of ''Papilio aegeus, P. aegeus'' by the large ...

'' C. & R. Felder, 1860 *''Papilio weymeri'' Niepelt, 1914 *''

Papilio woodfordi ''Papilio woodfordi'', the Woodford's swallowtail, is a swallowtail butterfly of the Papilioninae subfamily. It is found on various islands in the Pacific Ocean (see Subspecies section). Description The wingspan is .Sexes similar, the female som ...

'' Godman & Salvin, 1888

References

*Ebner, J.A., 1971 Some notes on the Papilionidae of

, New Guinea 1971 ''Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 1971'' Volume 25:73-8

Discussion of synonymy with ''Papilio carteriti'' Oberthür, short description, note on behaviour. Papilio, weymeri Lepidoptera of Papua New Guinea Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Butterflies described in 1914 Taxa named by Friedrich Wilhelm Niepelt {{Papilionidae-stub