Graphium latreillianus

Graphium latreillianus, the coppery swordtail, is a butterfly in the family Papilionidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Angola, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Uganda and Tanzania.^[3]

Graphium latreillianus theorini (Aurivillius, 1881)

Graphium latreillianus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Graphium
Species:	G. latreillianus
Binomial name
Graphium latreillianus (Godart, 1819)[1] [2]
Synonyms
Papilio latreillianus Godart, 1819 Graphium (Arisbe) latreillianus Papilio latreillanus var. theorini Aurivillius, 1881 Papilio potamonianus Ehrmann, 1909 Papilio latreillianus theorini ab. infrapicta Strand, 1914 Papilio aurivillianus Avinoff, 1926 Graphium tynderaeus theorini f. xerophila Berger, 1950 Papilio latreillanus theorini ab. lutea Birket-Smith, 1960

Description

For terms see External morphology of Lepidoptera

Hindwing tailless, with rounded margin, which is angled at the ends of the veins or merely undulate. Wings above black-brown with green spots. Hindwing beneath at the base with one or several separated black dots or spots and distinct black dots or spots in the apex of the cell and in the basal part of cellules 1 c—7. Margin of the hindwing slightly waved; palpi yellow; dots on frons and breast white, the spots of the under surface faint and yellowish, with a brassy sheen, never green. — latreillianus Godt. is smaller; forewing above with distinct green submarginal dots. Sierra Leone. — theorini Auriv. (3 d). Larger; the forewing entirely without submarginal dots. Cameroons to Angola^[4]

Subspecies

• Graphium latreillianus latreillianus (Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana)
• Graphium latreillianus theorini (Aurivillius, 1881)^[5] (Nigeria, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, western Uganda, Tanzania)

Taxonomy

It is a member of the tynderaeus -clade (Graphium tynderaeus, Graphium philonoe, Graphium latreillianus).

Images

External images from Royal Museum of Central Africa.