''Papilio zagreus'' is a

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 ...

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 ...

(swallowtails). It is found in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, including

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and western

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Description

A powerfully built insect with strong neuration in the forewing. The frons is either quite black or bears a yellow mesial line, never a yellow lateral streak along the eye. The antennae are long, yellow, with thin club; the frons has a yellow mesial stripe, the breast is diagonally streaked with yellow, the abdomen is for the most part yellow, the costal margin of the forewing is not dentate, the cell of the forewing is broad and the hindwing is rounded, without a tail. The spots of the forewing orange, the marginal ones yellow; hindwing orange, a marginal band enclosing a yellow submarginal spot, a basal subcostal area, a patch in the extremity of the cell, as well as several spots on the disc, black. 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 110–130 mm.

Biology

''Papilio zagreus'' is a palatable Batesian mimic of various ''

Heliconius ''Heliconius'' comprises a colorful and widespread genus of brush-footed butterflies commonly known as the longwings or heliconians. This genus is distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from South America ...

'' butterfly species.

Subspecies

*''Papilio zagreus zagreus'' (Colombia, Venezuela, Amazonas to Bolivia) *''Papilio zagreus ascolius'' C. & R. Felder, 1864 (Ecuador, Colombia, Panama) Hindwing without black spots in the cell and on the disc, basal area of the cell of the forewing always pure pale yellow, between the 3. radial and 1. median two spots touching the cell: cell of the hindwing and the adjoining parts of the disc orange. Batesian mimic of various ''

Ithomiini Ithomiini is a butterfly tribe in the nymphalid subfamily Danainae. It is sometimes referred to as the tribe of clearwing butterflies or glasswing butterflies. Some authors consider the group to be a subfamily (Ithomiinae). These butterflies ar ...

''. *'' Papilio zagreus bachus'' C. & R. Felder, 1865 (Colombia, Ecuador) The orange area of the hindwing of the preceding subspecies is here only represented by a narrow variable band: however, the veins are often more or less yellowish on the underside. *''Papilio zagreus zalates'' Godman & Salvin, 1890 (Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) The most northern form. The cell area of the forewing is dusted with black, the subapical cell-spot is narrow, the discal spots are short, the marginal area of the hindwing narrower than in the other forms and the hindwing beneath deeper orange. *''Papilio zagreus rosenbergi'' Druce, 1903 (Ecuador) The subapical cell-spot of the forewing large, the discal spot between the 1. and 2. radial usually small, sometimes absent, rarely large, the following discal spots on the whole larger than in the preceding forms, whilst the posterior submarginal spots are smaller. Named for the London-based insect dealer W.F.M. Rosenberg. *''Papilio zagreus chrysomelus'' Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador) The forewing orange above and beneath from the base to the disc, at the costal margin more or less pale yellow. *''Papilio zagreus daguanus'' Rothschild & Jordan, 1906 (Colombia) The cell-spot of the forewing as in ''zalates'', the discal spots on the contrary as in ''ascolius'', the discal spot between the 1. and 2. radial much shorter than the one placed behind it; hindwing pale, much less orange than in ''ascolius'', the black basal streak broad, entering the cell, behind this streak a large black spot on the disc. *''Papilio zagreus batesi'' (Racheli & Racheli, 1996) (northern Peru) *''Papilio zagreus chrysoxanthus'' Fruhstorfer, 1915 (central Peru, southern Peru to Bolivia) *''Papilio zagreus nigroapicalis'' (Bollino & Sala, 1998) (Peru) *''Papilio zagreus baueri'' (Möhn, 2001) (Amazonas)

Taxonomy

''Papilio zagreus'' is in the ''Papilio zagreus''

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 ...

. This

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 ...

has two members. *''Papilio zagreus'' *'' Papilio neyi'' (may be a form of ''zagreus'') ''P.ascolius'' is ranked as a species in earlier works. The status was changed to subspecies by Racheli and Parise in 1992 and this was accepted by Tyler, Brown and Wilson in 1994.Tyler, H.A., Brown, Jr., K.S. & Wilson, K.H. 1994. ''Swallowtail Butterflies of the Americas''. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida

References

*Lewis, H. L., 1974 ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 25, figure 17

External links

Butterflycorner
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3014675

zagreus In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Zagreus () was a god sometimes identified with an Orphic Dionysus who was dismembered by the Titans and reborn. In the earliest mention of Zagreus, he is paired with Gaia and called the "highest" god, th ...

Papilionidae of South America Butterflies described in 1847 Taxa named by Edward Doubleday Lepidoptera of Ecuador Lepidoptera of Peru Lepidoptera of Bolivia Lepidoptera of Brazil Lepidoptera of Venezuela Lepidoptera of Colombia