Papilio echerioides

Papilio echerioides, the white-banded swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa.

White-banded swallowtail
Upperside
Conservation status
Underside
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. echerioides
Binomial name
Papilio echerioides Trimen, 1868 [1] [2]
Synonyms
Druryia echerioides Papilio homeyeri Plötz, 1880 Papilio neumanni Karsch, 1895 Papilio tanganikae Oberthür, 1897 Papilio zoroastres neumanni ab. subtanganikae Strand, 1916 Papilio zoroastres neumanni ab. zoroastrides Strand, 1916 Papilio zoroastres joiceyi Gabriel, 1945 Papilio zoroastres f. pallidochrea Stoneham, 1944 Papilio zoroastres joycei f. nioka Berger, 1974 Papilio echerioides var. wertheri Karsch, 1898 Papilio echerioides rideschi Suffert, 1904 Papilio echerioides rectofasciata Kielland, 1990 Papilio zoroastres Druce, 1878 Papilio preussius Karsch, 1893 Papilio zoroastres ab. zoroastroides Strand, 1914 Papilio zoroastres ab. sapponis Strand, 1914 Papilio zoroastres barnsi Gabriel, 1945 Papilio echerioides gabrieli Gauthier, 1984

The wingspan is 65–75 mm. It has two flight periods, first from January to March and second from September to November.^[3]

The larvae feed on Clausena inaequalis, Toddalia lanceolata, Toddalia asiatica, Zanthoxylum capense, Zanthoxylum delagoense, Vepris lanceolata and Citrus species.^[2]

Description

Image that accompanied the original description

The male is very similar to Papilio cynorta, but the median band, which is very pale yellow, tapers more strongly towards the apex. The pale spot in area (cell) 6 ^[4] of the forewing is always present (usually absent in P. cynorta). The female is a mimic of the butterflies Amauris echeria and Amauris albimaculata. The forewing is black with white spots, the hindwing black with a large pale ochreous discal area and white submarginal spots.

Taxonomy

Papilio echerioides is a member of the echerioides species group. This clade includes:

• Papilio echerioides Trimen, 1868
• Papilio fuelleborni Karsch, 1900
• Papilio jacksoni Sharpe, 1891
• Papilio sjoestedti Aurivillius, 1908

Subspecies

Listed alphabetically:^[2]

• P. e. ambangulu Clifton & Collins, 1997 ^[5] (Tanzania)
• P. e. chirindanus van Son, 1956 ^[6] (Mozambique (Mount Gorongosa), eastern Zimbabwe)
• P. e. echerioides Trimen, 1868 ^[1] (South Africa, Eswatini)
• P. e. homeyeri Plötz, 1880 ^[7] (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, south-western Tanzania, northern Zambia)
• P. e. joiceyi Gabriel, 1945 ^[8] – Zoroaster swallowtail – (Sudan, Uganda, western Kenya, western Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• P. e. kiellandi Clifton & Collins, 1997 (southern Kenya, northern Tanzania)
• P. e. leucospilus Rothschild, 1902 .^[9](Ethiopia: highlands south-east of Rift Valley)
• P. e. nioka (Berger, 1974) (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• P. e. nyiro Carcasson, 1962^[10] (Kenya)
• P. e. oscari Rothschild, 1902 (Ethiopia: highlands west of the Rift Valley)
• P. e. pseudowertheri Kielland, 1990 ^[11] (eastern and south-eastern Tanzania)
• P. e. shirensis (Hancock, 1987)^[12] (Malawi)
• P. e. wertheri Karsch, 1898 ^[13] (eastern Kenya, eastern and northern Tanzania)
• P. e. zoroastres Druce, 1878 ^[14](Cameroon)