Papilio filaprae

Papilio filaprae is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. The species was first described by Ernst Suffert in 1904.^[2]

Papilio filaprae
Suffert's description
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Papilionidae
Genus:	Papilio
Species:	P. filaprae
Binomial name
Papilio filaprae Suffert, 1904 [1]
Synonyms
Papilio cypraeafila filaprae Suffert, 1904 Papilio cypraeofila f. insularis Schultze, 1913 Papilio cyraeofila f. lactifascia Le Cerf, 1924

Subspecies

• Papilio filaprae filaprae (south-eastern Cameroon, Congo, south-western Republic of the Congo, Angola)
• Papilio filaprae musolanus (Hancock, 1988) ^[3]

Taxonomy

It is a member of the zenobia species group. In the zenobia group the basic upperside wing pattern is black with white or yellowish bands and spots. The underside is brown and basally there is a red area marked with black stripes and spots. In the discal area there is a yellowish band with black stripes and veins. Females resemble Amauris butterflies. Both sexes lack tails. External images

The clade members are:

• Papilio cyproeofila Butler, 1868
• Papilio fernandus Fruhstorfer, 1903
• Papilio filaprae Suffert, 1904
• Papilio gallienus Distant, 1879
• Papilio mechowi Dewitz, 1881
• Papilio mechowianus Dewitz, 1885
• Papilio nobicea Suffert, 1904
• Papilio zenobia Fabricius, 1775

Larsen, 2005 ^[4] doubts that this is a valid taxon, suggesting that it is the equatorial subspecies of Papilio cyproeofila, which it closely resembles.