''Parides vercingetorix'' is a species of
butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...
in the family
Papilionidae
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 larges ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...
to
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...
. Formerly, this species was known as ''Parides coelus'' and originally described as ''Papilio coelus'' by
Jean Baptiste Boisduval
Jean Baptiste Alphonse Déchauffour de Boisduval (24 June 1799 – 30 December 1879) was a French lepidopterist, botanist, and physician.
He was one of the most celebrated lepidopterists of France, and was the co-founder of the Société entom ...
in 1836, but that name
was already used in 1781 by Stoll for the butterfly now known as ''
Aguna coelus''. Consequently, the ''Parides'' species had to receive a new name.
Description
Forewing with a white spot, obsolete at the margins, which fills up the extremity of the cell, and extends on to the disc. Hindwing with red band on the disc, in the male composed of four spots, in the female of six. A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906)
Description from Seitz
P. coelus Boisd. (male = ''vercingetorix'' Oberth.) (Id). Forewing with a white spot, obsolete at the
margins, which fills up the extremity of the cell, and extends on to the disc. Hindwing with red band on
the disc, in the male composed of four spots, in the female of six. — French Guiana, the male in Oberthur's Collection,
one female in the Paris Museum.
Taxonomy
''Parides vercingetorix'' is a member of the ''chabrias''
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 ...
[Edwin Möhn, 2007 ''Butterflies of the World'', Part 26: Papilionidae XIII. ''Parides'' Verlag Goecke & Evers Verlag Goecke & Evers
]
The members are
*''
Parides chabrias''
*''Parides coelus''
*''
Parides hahneli
''Parides hahneli'', the Hahnel's Amazonian swallowtail, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is endemic to Brazil in the states of Rondônia, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Pará, where it was placed on the list of endangere ...
''
*''
Parides mithras''
*''
Parides pizarro''
*''
Parides quadratus''
Status
A rare little known species.
References
*Lewis, H. L., 1974 ''Butterflies of the World'' Page 26, figure 6, female
*
External links
Endemic fauna of French Guiana
Lepidoptera of French Guiana
vercingetorix
Vercingetorix (; Greek: Οὐερκιγγετόριξ; – 46 BC) was a Gallic king and chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in a failed revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars. Despite ha ...
Papilionidae of South America
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{papilionidae-stub