''Papilio zenobia'', the Zenobia swallowtail or Volta swallowtail, 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 ...

from the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Papilio ''Papilio'' is a genus in the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae, as well as the only representative of the tribe Papilionini. The word ''papilio'' is Latin for butterfly. It includes the common yellow swallowtail ('' Papilio machaon'') ...

'' that is found in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

, the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. It was first described by

Johan Christian Fabricius Johann Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1775. The habitat consists of wetter forest in good to reasonable condition. The larvae feed on '' Piper'' species, including '' Piper umbellatum''.

Taxonomy

It is a member of the ''zenobia''

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 ...

. In the ''zenobia'' group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble butterflies of the genus ''

Amauris ''Amauris'' is a genus of nymphalid butterflies in the Danainae subfamily. ''Amauris niavius niavius'', ''Amauris echeria jacksoni'', and ''Amauris dominicanus'' are mimicked by '' Papilio dardanus'' females. Other mimics of ''Amauris'' are foun ...

''. Both sexes lack tails. 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 cyproeofila ''Papilio cyproeofila'', the common white-banded swallowtail, is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria. The larvae feed on ''Piper (plan ...

'' Butler, 1868 * ''

Papilio fernandus ''Papilio fernandus'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Equatorial Guinea. Taxonomy It is a member of the ''zenobia'' species group. In the ''zenobia'' group the basic upperside wing pattern is bla ...

'' Fruhstorfer, 1903 * '' Papilio filaprae'' Suffert, 1904 * '' Papilio gallienus'' Distant, 1879 * '' Papilio mechowi'' Dewitz, 1881 * ''

Papilio mechowianus ''Papilio mechowianus'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus ''Papilio'' that is found in Angola and the Republic of the Congo. Taxonomy It is a member of the ''zenobia'' species group. In the ''zenobia'' group the basic uppersid ...

'' Dewitz, 1885 * '' Papilio nobicea'' Suffert, 1904 * ''Papilio zenobia'' Fabricius, 1775

Diagnosis

It is very similar to ''

'' but lacking white marginal spots on the hindwings. It is also close to '' Papilio nobicea'' but differs slightly in its cream bands, which are also of a different shape Larsen, Torben B., 2005 ''Butterflies of West Africa''. Apollo Books Stenstrup, Denmark . "Tail-less black with a very broad white median band; in the male the median band initially invades the discoidal cell of the forewing." (

Robert Herbert Carcasson Robert Herbert Carcasson (5 December 1918 in Cheltenham, UK – 23 September 1982 in Victoria, B.C., Canada) was an English entomologist who specialised in butterflies, but also authored two field guides to tropical fishes. He joined the Coryndon ...

, 1960)

References

* Carcasson, R. H. (1960)
"The Swallowtail Butterflies of East Africa (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae)"
''Journal of the East Africa Natural History Society''. 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.)

External links

Images
Global Butterfly Information System
Images (as subgenus ''

Druryia ''Druryia'' is a subgenus within the genus ''Papilio'' containing 36 species:Häuser, C.L., de Jong, R., Lamas, G., Robbins, R.K., Smith, C. & Vane-Wright, R.I. (2005)Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft) Entomologi ...

'')
Butterfly Corner
Images from

Naturhistorisches Museum Wien The Natural History Museum Vienna () is a large natural history museum located in Vienna, Austria. The NHM Vienna is one of the largest museums and non-university research institutions in Austria and an important center of excellence for all matt ...

"''Papilio zenobia'' Fabricius, 1775"
''Insecta.pro''. With images.

zenobia Septimia Zenobia (Greek: Ζηνοβία, Palmyrene Aramaic: , ; 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner, and she married the ruler of the ...

Butterflies described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Butterflies of Africa {{Papilionidae-stub