''Parides zacynthus'' is a species of

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 ...

in 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 ...

. It is found in the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

where it 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 ...

to Eastern Brazil. The larvae feed on ''

Aristolochia ''Aristolochia'' () is a large plant genus with over 500 species that is the type genus of the family Aristolochiaceae. Its members are commonly known as birthwort, pipevine or Dutchman's pipe and are widespread and occur in the most diverse clim ...

'' species (including ''Aristolochia macroura'', ''Aristolochia odora'' and ''Aristolochia ruminifolia'').

Subspecies

*''Parides zacynthus zacynthus'' (Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Paraná) *''Parides zacynthus polymetus'' (Godart, 1819) (Brazil: Pernambuco to Bahia)

Description from Seitz

P. zacynthus. Band on the forewing in the male greenish blue. The spots on the under surface of the hindwing of the female paler than in '' P. neophilus''. Brazil, from Rio de Janeiro northwards, in two geographical forms. Not rare in damp localities overgrown with bushes. The larva is grey-brown, with a yellow lateral stripe. — The form from the province of Rio de Janeiro, ''zacynthus'' F. (5b), occurs in the neighbourhood of the town of Rio, but is much rarer than '' P. nephalion''. The forewing is not transparent at the apex; the female has a spot in the cell of the forewing. — The northern form, from Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio Tapajos, is ''polymetus'' Godt. (5 b). The forewing is transparent at the apex and the female has no spot in the cell, or only a very small one. File:Macrolepidoptera15seit 0019.jpg , Seitz

Description from Rothschild and Jordan(1906)

A full description is provided by Rothschild, W. and Jordan, K. (1906)

Taxonomy

''Parides zacynthus'' is a member of the ''aeneas''

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 aeneas ''Parides aeneas'' is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Neotropical realm. The larva feeds on '' Aristolochia'' ''burchelli'' and ''A. barbata'' Subspecies *''P. a. aeneas'' Guianas, Surinam *''P. a. bolivar' ...

'' *'' Parides aglaope'' *''

Parides burchellanus ''Parides burchellanus'' is a species of swallowtail butterfly (family Papilionidae). It is endemic to Brazil. It is one of only two butterflies on the IUCN's ''100 Most Endangered Species in the World'', the other being '' Actinote zikani''. ...

'' *''

Parides echemon ''Parides echemon'' is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Neotropical realm. It is common and not threatened. Subspecies *''P. e. echemon'' Brazil (Pará) *''P. e. ergeteles'' (Gray, 853 Guianas, French Guian ...

'' *''

Parides eurimedes ''Parides eurimedes'' is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is commonly known as the mylotes cattleheart, Arcas cattleheart, pink-checked cattleheart, and true cattleheart. It is native to the Americas. Subspecies In 2004, Ge ...

'' *''

Parides lysander ''Parides lysander'', the Lysander cattleheart, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Neotropical realm. The larvae feed on ''Aristolochia'' species including ''Aristolochia huberiana, A. huberiana'', ''Aristol ...

'' *''

Parides neophilus ''Parides neophilus'', the spear-winged cattleheart, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Neotropical realm. The larvae feed on '' Aristolochia trilobata'' and '' Aristolochia colombiana''. Subspecies *''P. ...

'' *''

Parides orellana ''Parides orellana'' is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Neotropical realm. (Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil (Amazonas)). The larvae possibly feed on '' Aristolochia barbata''. Description from Se ...

'' *''

Parides panthonus ''Parides panthonus'', the panthonus cattleheart, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in the Guianas and Suriname. Subspecies *''P. p. panthonus'' (Suriname, the Guianas) *''P. p. barbotini'' Brévignon, 1998 (eastern French G ...

'' *'' Parides tros'' *''Parides zacynthus''

References

Butterflies described in 1793 Parides Papilionidae of South America Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius Lepidoptera of Brazil {{papilionidae-stub