Papilio desmondi

Papilio desmondi, the Desmond's green-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Africa.^[2]

Desmond's green-banded swallowtail
Mud-puddling
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. desmondi
Binomial name
Papilio desmondi Van Someren, 1939[1]
Synonyms
Papilio magdae Gifford, 1961 Papilio brontes Godman, 1885 Papilio teita van Someren, 1960 Papilio brontes australis van Someren, 1960

The larvae feed on Vepris eugeniifolia, other Vepris species, Clausena, Zanthoxylum, Calodendrum, and Citrus species.

Subspecies

• Papilio desmondi desmondi (Chyulu Hills of south-eastern Kenya)
• Papilio desmondi magdae Gifford, 1961 .^[3] (northern Tanzania)
• Papilio desmondi teita van Someren, 1960 ^[4] (south-eastern Kenya)
• Papilio desmondi usambaraensis (Koçak, 1980)^[5] (Tanzania, northern Malawi, north-eastern Zambia)

Description

The blue median band of the upper surface is somewhat narrower than in Papilio desmondi and the spot in the cell of the forewing reaches basad at most to vein 3.Forewing beneath with large yellowish submarginal spots in cellules 1 b—4. Found in east Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Malawi. There are sharp nervular indentations at the margin of the blue band in the fore wing.^[6]

Taxonomy

Papilio desmondi belongs to a clade called the nireus species group with 15 members. The pattern is black with green or blue bands and spots and the butterflies, although called swallowtails lack tails with the exception of Papilio charopus and Papilio hornimani.